Rubbish!
by AllMyMuchness
Summary: She's awful with spell casting, has the social skills of a wart, and she's an absolute genius with potions. Meet Lyla Shanks, a fifth year transfer student from the Salem Witches Institute in America. Coming to Hogwarts she has a ton of catching up to do, O.W.L exams are on the way, and she somehow can't seem to shake the Weasely twins.
1. Rubbish! Chapter one: A whole new world

**Rubbish chapter 1**: A whole new world.

**Summary**: She's awful with spell casting, has the social skills of a wart, and she's an absolute genius with potions. Meet Lyla Shanks, a fifth year transfer student from the Salem Witches Institute in America. Coming to Hogwarts she has a ton of catching up to do, O.W.L exams are on the way, and she somehow can't seem to shake the Weasley twins.

**Authors Note**: This is my first Fanfiction and I decided to make it a Harry Potter fic. I've been writing for a long time now but I still need some constructive criticism so that would be helpful. Also I would just like to address this right away. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep my OC from becoming a Mary Sue so do me the huge favor if she starts getting too Sue-ish to let me know so that I may correct it immediately. Also this story does not revolve around Harry nor does my character replace him in any way. This is just the story of her times at Hogwarts after befriending the Weasley twins. Yes Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in this story but don't expect them to play a huge role. One last thing. This story takes place during Prisoner of Azkaban, so Harry and his friends are in the third yeah (for anyone who doesn't know) and I already plan on it running for the rest of the series.

** Disclaimer**: I do not own any rights to Harry Potter or its characters. Just my own. Duh.

**Now enough of my blabbing! Enjoy the story! **

...

Standing on platform nine and three quarters Lyla Shanks was twitchy. Her parents, Alyssa and Daniel Shanks each had a hand on her shoulder and were telling her not to worry. That all would be fine. Easy for them to say. They didn't have anything to worry about. She was starting at a whole new school, she didn't know anyone, and she had no idea what this new school would be like.

"Sweetheart. Please stop twitching you're making me nervous." Her father muttered as the train puffed smoke. Her snow white ferret, Emmet, looked just as anxious as she did and she couldn't wait to let him out of his carrier so she could pet him for comfort which she desperately needed.

Her mother kissed her temple and ruffled her inch and a half of light brown hair. "You'll do fine. You've got a chance to start over." She said and Lyla knew she could no longer put off getting on the train. The students boarding were becoming fewer and fewer.

She took a deep breath and gave her parents one last hug and boarded the train. The second she got on she regretted not getting on sooner. Nearly every compartment was full and it took her forever to find one that was empty. She settled in and let Emmet out of his carrier and he quickly darted up her shoulder to curl around the back of her neck and chirp happily in her ear. He never did like being confined.

She took a deep breath, her nerves on edge, and scratched him atop his head and stared out the window as the train began to move. Her reflection stared back at her miserably. She raised a hand and touched her short hair. She'd been waiting for it to grow out for nearly a month now but it was definitely an improvement from the original cut.

Her dark brown eyes glared back at her as she recalled the incident.

She previously attended the Salem witches institute in America where she'd been born and raised. She'd had a few friends and she enjoyed her classes but there was one student in particular who had deemed her his target from day one in their first year.

Gregory Pollivar, when Lyla had first met him seemed to be nice. They never really spoke but he would smile at her in the hallways between classes. Little did she know he'd seen her as nothing more than a victim with a target on their back. During their second year things changed. Suddenly Gregory appeared to have a point to prove and to prove it he used Lyla, a girl who mostly kept to herself simply because she was determined to get decent grades. She was a bit on the mischievous side though and would occasionally be the culprit behind a few bathroom floods. It was all in good fun and no one ever got hurt but apparently Gregory didn't find her antics very funny.

It started off small. He would trip her in the hallways with a jinx or levitate a cup of juice and then drop it on her head. Things progressively got worse until in her fourth year he and a few of his friends caught her wandering the halls after dark and they held her down and shaved her head.

She hadn't retaliated knowing that it would only make things worse but things got worse without her having to do anything at all. It was his fault she had to transfer schools. If it weren't for him she'd still be at Salem's where things were familiar and where she had friends.

On the last day before returning home Gregory thought it a good idea to try a new spell on her. It was a curse she eventually found out that he'd learned from a sixth year. She hadn't known he was planning an attack on her until it was too late. "Parum oculus!" he'd yelled as he approached her in the hallway.

Her vision ruined as her eyes swelled , she attempted to fight back knowing if she did nothing she would be left helpless and forced to endure whatever Gregory had planned. Aiming her wand to where she could see his blurry outline. "Stupefy!" She'd countered but she'd never been very good at casting spells. Somehow though this time the spell was far more powerful than she'd thought it would be and it sent Gregory flying into the wall causing a severe concussion that could have killed him.

In the end she was dismissed from the school no matter how hard or how many times she explained herself and the situation. No one took her word over Gregory's thanks to her long track record of mischief.

That could have possibly been the end of her education in the magical world because after that the only school that would have admitted her without questions would be Durmstrang but her parents downright refused to send her there.

Her father, Daniel Shanks, contacted Albus Dumbledore. Lyla hadn't known before all of this that her grandfather, Frederick Shanks had once been close friends with Albus' father, Percival. It was only because of this past friendship that Dumbledore paid their home a visit to talk with Lyla and decide if he was willing to allow her to attend Hogwarts.

She'd been intimidated by the man at first as he asked her about the incident and those that led up to it but she told him the story. By the end he looked at her parents who were desperate for her to continue her education. At first Dumbledore didn't seem very impressed with her and seemed distracted. Her father told the man she was a genius with potions and could concoct almost anything he could ask her to. She was way beyond the teachings at Salem's in that aspect because she'd found it to be her one true passion and was determined to excel at it. By the time she was in her fourth year her Potions teacher had to create special lessons for her after classes were over for the day.

Albus seemed slightly impressed by this and gave her a smile asking her if she could tell him how to create a Draught of peace and she immediately began to list the ingredients and the order in which to add them, boiling times, and varying temperatures to obtain the desired effect. His smile grew and he called her a very bright young witch. She'd felt proud in that moment and then her mother, feeling this was not enough, blabbed the secret both she and her father had told her not to divulge to anyone unless she completely trusted them.

"She's a Seer as well!" She exclaimed and Lyla's eyes flew to her mother in astonishment. Dumbledore's smile disappeared then and he leaned a bit closer to Lyla and stared into her eyes. "And how do you know this?" He asked.

Her mother began to tell the headmaster of the many visions Lyla had in their daily lives that had come to fruition. They were nothing huge but they were something. The man asked Lyla if she'd seen anything recently. She'd nodded and told him she'd had a dream the night before that he'd be delayed by a sudden decision in a change of wardrobe because of the warm weather. She'd thought it silly but as she told him now he laughed.

"Oh my." He chuckled. "The weather here is very warm." He laughed for moment and then stood saying he didn't know if she could truly be considered a Seer but he said she showed signs and that they were very rare. Her parents had told her this as well when she'd told them of her sight.

"So will you give her a chance, sir?" Her father asked and Dumbledore set a hand on Lyla's shoulder. "Everyone deserves a second chance." He offered her a smile but in the next moment it was gone. "But it will not be easy. Hogwarts is very different from Salem's. You will be behind in your studies, you'll have to adjust to a whole new environment and set of rules, and since you'll be in your fifth year you'll have O.W.L exams to prepare for." He squeezed her shoulder. "Think very hard on whether you want to attend Hogwarts or not." He said and for a moment Lyla feared she might not be able to do well at the school.

She looked at her parents and she knew in that moment that she had to try. She wanted, more than anything, to make them proud. "I want to, Sir." She'd said with as much conviction as she could. Her answer made his face break into a smile again and he began telling her all about Hogwarts.

As the train rattled along the thing that worried her most at the moment was the sorting ceremony Dumbledore had mentioned. He said First years get sorted into their houses. This wasn't much different from Salem's. They had four houses as well. Danvers, Ipswich, Andover, and Fairfield. She'd been placed in Fairfield a house that valued curiosity and creativity. Two things she was chock full of.

But which of the houses of Hogwarts would she be placed in? She had done research on the houses during her manic studying during her break and in her mind she figured she would be placed in either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. The other two houses, Gryffindor and Slytherin seemed far too dominant to suit her.

She sighed and gazed at her own somewhat plain face and would occasionally watch as girls passed by moving from cart to cart. Being on the short side at five foot three with a petite build she'd never been very attractive compared to other girls at Salem's. Most of them had begun maturing far faster than she had but the girls she was seeing pass by now made her feel more comfortable because they looked average just like her. There were a few exceptions and she spotted some very pretty girls but for once she wasn't surrounded by beauty that she felt she couldn't even compare to.

She returned her gaze to her reflection and tried to smooth down her hair which had a tendency to stick up in odd places. She'd considered trying a magical solution to grow her hair but had worn her short hair as a badge of pride now. She may not like it but she tried not to let it ruin her life. The worst part about it was that she no longer had her hair to hide behind and the new short style made her ears look even larger than they already were and it wasn't a very feminine look even though it brought a lot of attention to her eyes almost making them look bulgy.

Emmet nipped at one of her ears and she batted his face away. They had always been extremely sensitive. "Cut it out, Em." She told the ferret and it slid down into her lap and curled up for a nap. He had the right idea. It was gonna be a long ride.

Arriving felt like it took forever and she quickly threw on her robes over her clothing. She'd always been somewhat of a procrastinator when it came to small things such as that. She filed out with the other students and they were taken to the castle in carriages with no horses. It was then she got her first look at Hogwarts.

The two students in the same carriage watched her jaw drop as she gazed at the immense castle. It was truly magnificent. Nothing Like Salem's which was a plain looking building compared to this. The closer they got the more her stomach fluttered, threatening to spill its contents.

Once inside the students were taken into a grand dining hall and Lyla gazed around her in wonder. She found she would have to go through the sorting ceremony with the first years and, to her, dismay, she would have to be sorted last because of the circumstances.

While she waited she stared up at the ceiling and all around her at the many many faces of the other students. Some glances were cast her way but not many because thanks to her short stature she wasn't much taller than the first years.

Finally she was the last one and Dumbledore smiled at her. "Ah, at last. Our new arrival. I'd nearly forgotten." He smiled and motioned for her to take a seat on the stool. He set the hat on her head and it barked at her. "Ah!"

She jumped. At Salem's the houses were sorted using the Mirror of Minerva which sorted students by showing their reflection with the animal of their house. This was completely wonky to her. "Such a curious one, you are. Ah, but these qualities…Clever. Very clever and loyal too… Hmmm….. Brave to a degree." It deliberated for a moment before shouting. "Gryffindor!" Which shocked the hell out of her.

The hat was removed from her head and she assumed the table that was cheering was the Gryffindor table and hurried to find a seat. No one paid her much mind and soon food filled the table like she'd never seen. 'Dear Jesus.' She gaped at it all and began to eat as if she'd never eaten before.

She observed the other students as she ate and wondered if any of them were like Gregory. She forced herself not think of that. This was a new start. A chance to begin all over again and she would not be weighed down by the memory of that jerk.

After the feast everyone was sent off to their respective dormitories, another thing they didn't have at Salem's. Her old school was not a boarding school and the students returned home after classes. So this was going to be a very different experience all together.

She stared at the moving pictures along the way and was mesmerized by the way the stairs moved on their own. When the group she was following suddenly stopped she bumped into a few girls in front of her and quickly apologized and tried to see what the holdup was. Apparently there was a password needed. A boy gave it but the fat woman in the picture he was speaking to wasn't listening to him. She was singing and she wasn't very good at it.

She told him to wait and watch and she suddenly let out a shrill screech and Lyla heard the sound of glass breaking. A few moments later the crowd was finally moving again and Lyla got her first look at the common room. It was so cozy and welcoming she wished she could sleep there but an older redhead boy instructed girls up one flight of winding, stone steps and boys up another. Lyla followed the other girls and found her room which she would be sharing with a few other girls.

Her bed at home didn't come close to comparing to this enormous, beautiful bed. She resisted the urge to leap on it and roll around making a fool out of herself. Instead she readied herself for bed and moved a curtain away from the window to let in the moonlight. Lyla had never liked the dark before. It had always terrified her since she was a small child. It was the fear of the unknown.

She gazed out over the school grounds and took a deep breath. Knowing her she would get very little sleep on this first night. It would be impossible to sleep in this new environment for very long and she already knew she would be tossing and turning.

Emmet poked his head out from beneath her pillow and made a soft noise to get her attention and she drew her gaze away from the view. "You're right. I have classes in the morning. I should at least try to get some sleep." She grumbled to him and looked around at the other girls who'd already found their way into their beds and were on their way to dream land though a few of them were still awake and whispering excitedly to one another.

Lyla pulled back the covers and Emmet dove beneath them as she drew them over her body and he curled up with his face tucked against her neck. "Behave yourself tonight, Em." She told the ferret. Sometime in the night he would get up and explore and she didn't need him getting her into trouble.

He made a soft noise and after lying awake and watching shadows play on the walls she eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning she quickly dressed and followed some other students down to breakfast, Emmet's nose twitching in the air and he traveled back and forth on her shoulders as if trying to find the source of the amazing smells he was detecting as they neared the dining hall she'd feasted in the night before.

It was packed full of students and she ate as much as she could manage though she'd never really had an appetite for breakfast. Emmet would snatch bits and pieces of food from her plate every now and again and sit proudly in her lap with his snack.

She received her schedule and looked it over.

First she would have History of Magic for an hour and a half. She rose from her seat and went about trying to find her classroom. Along the way she spotted students exchanging schedules and catching up with friends and she wished that she had at least one person she knew here.

Emmet seemed to read her thoughts and bumped his head against her cheek. She smiled and scratched beneath his chin. "At least I have you, Em." She found the class and found that she was one of the first students to arrive. She looked about the room and took a seat as far back as she could. It was during this first lesson that Lyla realized that she truly was going to have a hard time at Hogwarts.

She'd had barely any knowledge of what the Professor was talking about, she was already assigned homework and she felt like a complete idiot so she'd just taken as many notes as possible and ran to the library during the break to try to figure out just what the Professor had been explaining.

She got caught up in her studying when she realized she'd be late to her next class if she didn't leave soon and she definitely didn't want to be late for this one because it would be the only class she could actually grasp whatever was being taught.

She made it to the potions classroom and was immediately taken aback by the dark environment. It was like a dungeon where she could expect some awful torture to take place. She saw nearly all of the seats taken and chose the only available seat which just so happened to be next to two red headed twins who were whispering to one another about something in their hands beneath the table.

Lyla minded her own business no matter how curious she was and it wasn't long before the professor, a greasy looking man by the name of Snape jumped into an explanation of what they would be learning this year. The Draught of Peace, the very potion Dumbledore made her explain to him during his visit to her home, Properties of Moonstone, Varieties of Venom Antidotes, and Strengthening Solution. These were all things she'd already mastered but she paid attention none the less because Professor Snape looked the type of man who did not suffer fools lightly.

It made her miss her old Potions teacher who'd classroom was always brightly lit and her personality was always as bubble as her cauldron.

Beside her, during the lecture, the twins would wait for Snape not to be paying attention to them to whisper back and forth though she couldn't catch what they were saying.

When the students were dismissed Lyla stayed behind to speak with the Professor who, when she cleared her throat to get his attention as the room emptied, gazed down his long hooked nose at her. "May I help you?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yes, Sir." She squeaked and Emmet poked his head out from the front of her robes which the Professor smirked at. "I was wondering…I mean..I.." She didn't want to sound full of herself or come off as cocky so it was hard to word her request.

Lyla ran her hand over her hair nervously. "I'm a transfer student, you see-" She began but was cut off. "I know." He sneered and assumed the worst. "And if you're here to ask if I can dumb down the lesson for you I fear you are out of luck." He said and Lyla gaped at him. "N-No! That's not it at all. It's just..I already know all of this. I was actually going to ask if there were any more advanced lessons you could give me as homework instead of the homework you're giving to me now." She stuttered. Though she had tons to catch up in the other classes this was the one she wanted to further pursue and would be more than happy to take on extra homework for it.

The man smirked at her again. "I'm sorry I already have enough know-it-alls- in my classes. You will stick to the homework I have assigned." He spoke in a lazy, monotone drawl that sent shivers down her spine. This man was truly intimidating.

"But-!" She was cut off again by a wave of dismissal. "That is all." He snapped and she knew her cause was lost. She'd just have to find her own material to study. She thanked the man and quickly left the room to head to lunch though her appetite was suddenly lacking despite the fact she'd barely eaten breakfast.

As she headed for the dining hall again she spotted the twins she'd sat next to. One was watching the hallway and the other was checking the lock on a door. She spared them a curious glance but continued on her way. It was none of her business after all.

Lyla forced herself to eat and Emmet was more than happy to snatch whatever she was picking at.

Her next class was an elective, the only one she would be taking this year, because her parents forced it on her. Divination, her mother said, would help her with her 'sight'. She was determined for her daughter to flourish as a Seer though what Lyla wanted more than anything in the world was to be a Potioneer, someone who made a living off of making and creating different potions to advance the wizarding world.

The classroom was hazy with incense and the professor had wild, frizzy hair and enormous eyes which her glasses made look even more impossibly huge. She took a seat at a table at the front of the classroom and spent the whole class talking about what they would be learning much like her others. She also reviewed what they'd been taught the year before which Lyla knew little about. She'd never tried many methods of divination and once again spent nearly the whole class period taking notes. She glanced behind her at one point to see the twins from earlier giggling and making ghost noises. When they noticed her staring she immediately turned back around and ignored the distraction for the rest of the class.

Defense against the dark arts was next. It was another class that she would eb shoddy in at best. She remembered a few lessons from Salem's but since her spell casting was abysmal she'd barely made it past exams.

The Professor, Lupin, was very informational and seemed friendly unlike her last teacher who was a stern older woman with a zero tolerance for humor of any kind and expected nothing less than perfect from her students. Needless to say she was not a fan of Lyla's. The man before her, though, she felt she might actually do well in his class as long as she paid attention.

By dinner she was mentally drained and dreaded the amount of homework already assigned on the first day. At Salem's the teachers would take the first day to review the year before and no homework was ever given that night and if tonight was any indicator at all she could expect far more homework than she'd ever had at Salem's.

Even Emmet looked exhausted as she trudged to the common room after dinner and up to her room. She had no doubt she would sleep well this night because her bones felt heavy and her brain was running on fumes. She basically collapsed onto her bed still in her robes and passed out the second her head hit the pillow.

Her dreams were strange. She dreamed that she was wandering the corridors where she'd spotted the twins acting suspicious earlier that day. Why would she possibly be dreaming this though?

"What are you doing out of bed?" A stern voice jerked her from her sleep and Lyla looked around, confused and blinking the sleep from her eyes. The horrible realization that she was not in her bed hit her like the Hogwarts express and she gazed up at the tall redheaded boy who'd, on the first night, led the Gryffindor's to their common room.

Lyla, thoroughly embarrassed by her sleepwalking, gazed around at her surroundings and found she was in the same hall as she'd dreamed of. 'Crap.' She ripped a piece of dead skin from her lips with her teeth and apologized to the older boy. "I'm sorry. I really am. It's just….I sleepwalk." She fumbled for her words and the boy didn't seem to be buying her story one bit.

Behind him, Lyla spotted movement. Two familiar heads of red hair dart off around a corner and then poke out at the same time. They spot her looking their way and simultaneously put their fingers to their lips with identical winks.

The older boy questioning her caught her gaze and turned to see what she was looking at but by the time he looked the two were gone. He rounded on her again. "I'll let it go this time but if I catch you wandering the halls again I will report you." He threatened and she nodded. "Thank you." She muttered and he escorted her back to the common room and she could feel his eyes on her back as she retreated to her room.

In her bed, Emmet poked his head from beneath the blanket as if he'd just noticed she'd been missing and chirped at her harshly like a stern parent. "I know. I know." She grumbled and returned to bed, her embarrassment at being caught sleepwalking burning her alive.

It took forever to fall asleep again.

The next day she attended her classes in her rumpled robes that she'd slept in and didn't even bother trying to smooth her hair down. It would do as it liked either way so she let it be. After lunch she headed for the library because Dumbledore had allowed her to skip picking a second elective in order to give her an extra study period so she could have some hope of catching up with her classmates. She took this time in the library where she chose to study up on a few spells she would attempt to practice later in privacy. She attempted to memorize them but while doing so she found herself distracted by the same two she'd been seeing off and on.

The two redheads were goofing off and one of them was brandishing a book at the other with an excited grin plastered to his face. Emmet nipped at her finger and she went back to studying. After a few moments she looked up and but the twins were gone so she went back to reading. She was mumbling one of the spells under her breath to memorize it when two familiar mops of red hair poked over her shoulders.

"Flipendo? Isn't that a first year spell?" Lyla jumped as one of them spoke, startling her. She quickly slammed the book shut, embarrassed at her ineptitude, which Emmet jumped at, offended. "But you're the same year as us." The other said. "How do you not know that one yet?" They asked in unison.

Lyla, lost for words didn't answer. She was too busy wondering why the two had chosen to talk to her. They answered her thoughts as if they could read them.

"By the way thanks for not ratting us out to our brother last night." The first one spoke again and extended his hand over her shoulder. "I'm Fred." He said and his brother did the same. "And I'm George." He said and she shook their hands tentatively not sure what to make of them. Now that she thought about it the boy who'd caught her in the hallway did resemble them.

"I'm Lyla." She introduced herself and fingered the edges of the book as the two seated themselves on the edge of the desk on either side of her. Emmet was curious and wandered over to one and then the other sniffing them in turn before curling up between her arms.

"I was never all that good with spells." She admitted reluctantly to the two.

George arched an eyebrow. "Then what are you good at?" He asked and Lyla was surprised at his curiosity towards her. Why did he care what she was good at? She shrugged and petted Emmet absently. "Potions and….Divination apparently…" She mumbled the last part, ashamed to admit it. She knew that many wizards and witches found the art of divination to be stupid and useless.

"Divination? What a load of rubbish. You ask me it's just a bunch of guesswork." Fred snickered and Lyla took offense. "For some." She muttered indignantly.

George suddenly reached over and pushed his brother. "C'mon." He jerked his head and brandished the book again and Fred nodded. "Right. Well we've gotta go. Got some big stuff to attend to." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. Curious, Lyla cocked her head and peered at the mischievous look about the two and the book of potions.

"Like what?" She asked. She didn't want to seem like she was being nosy but sometimes she just couldn't help that she was overly curious. Especially now because whatever they were going on about had to deal with potions.

George leaned in and lowered his voice. "Don't tell anyone.." He started and Lyla couldn't help the chuckle that slipped past her lips. "Oh right. I'm gonna tell all of these friends I have." She rolled her eyes and motioned at the empty space around her.

Fred smirked. "Well we're going to try our hand at Baruffio's Brain Elixer to give ourselves an edge for classes." He sounded confident and she didn't know how much the two knew about potions so she simply nodded. "I see. Well good luck." She said and the two waved and headed off. She watched them go. 'What an interesting pair.' She thought to herself and continued to study before she had to attend Herbology.

She didn't see the two in class but didn't think much of it. They seemed the type who would skip classes on a whim and considering their earlier confession she could take a guess at what they were doing.

After class she ate a quick dinner and refused Emmet her scraps and instead gave him a handful of his own food not wanting him to get fat. She then retired to the common room, a book in her lap and Emmet running around the room, investigating the other students. Some of them would even lean down and give him a pat which he loved.

After most of the students had gone off to bed Lyla went about working on homework by the fireplace. It was peaceful until a certain pair of redheads stormed into the common room pointing accusing fingers and bickering. Lyla covered her mouth as she glanced up and realized that the two had somehow messed up their concoction and created a Bullgeye potion and the sight of them made her crack up.

One, she assumed was Fred attempted to glare at her. "Oh Ha ha!" He looked flustered. "At least I can manage the simplest of spells." He shot at her, his pride obviously wounded. "If you were any good at divination you would've told us that we'd muck it up." He spat cruelly.

Lyla frowned at the jab. "I can't tell people's futures by just talking to them for a few minutes and I don't recall you asking me if it would work or not. You just boasted arrogantly and look where it got you." She hugged. She knew she sounded a little full of herself. She immediately reminded herself that being rude wasn't going to help any and she sighed. "But I can help you out of your current situation." She offered figuring she might as well be helpful.

George nudged his brother who looked like he was about to say something rude. "Oh yeah? How?" He asked, silencing his brother.

Lyla stood from her chair while Emmet ran around the twin's feet and stood up on his back legs to peer up at them. She held up a finger and said "Hold on a minute" and quickly ran upstairs. In her room she rummaged through her trunk to find a book of potions. When she found it she returned to the common room flipping through the pages. "There's a potion that can reverse those effects if you don't want to wait for it to just wear off on its own." She said and presented the book open to the correct page. "It's quite simple." She said and the twins look down and then back at her.

Fred gaped at her. "You call that simple? There's about a million instructions!" He exclaimed.

Emmet crawled up Lyla's robes with his sharp little claws and onto her arm to investigate the book and took a nibble of the page. "Do you want my help or not?" She asked and tapped the ferret on the nose. The two looked to one another and then back at her. "We'll take it." They said together and Lyla nodded.

She grabbed a piece of parchment from her bag and began jotting down a list. "Alright." She told them. "But the only catch is you have to gather the ingredients. Shouldn't be a problem for a pair like you." She handed the list over with a smile and the two looked it over.

Fred scanned the page and seemed to take it as a challenge. "Alright. Stick around. We'll have them later tonight." He said and she watched as the two left and then returned to her seat to resume her homework.

She fell asleep waiting for the two to return and in her dream she replayed the night Gregory had shaved her head.

Lyla woke with a start to being shaken. She quickly sat up, frightening Emmet who'd been curled up behind her neck against the chair. He fell down into the seat and quickly scurried onto the arm of the chair to nip at the twin who'd woken her up.

Her hand flew to her hair. Oh gods how she missed her hair. It was a stupid thing to get upset about but it still hurt none the less.

"Give you a fright?" She couldn't figure out if it was Fred or George but she assumed it was the latter because from what she'd noticed George was a tad bit kinder than his brother. She shook off her dream and Fred dropped a box full of ingredients into her lap. "Took you long enough." She rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Well we had to make sure Snape wasn't around before we could snatch the load." They said. She nodded, yawned, and picked up the box. "Well now it's you who gets to wait around. I'll bring the potion down to you when it's finished." She told them and trudged up the stairs to begin brewing.

Even half asleep she could have brewed this potion and she went about the process as quick as she could. Some of the girls stirred while she worked but thankfully none of them woke up. She really didn't want to explain this to anyone or run the risk of being 'ratted out' as the twins would say.

After she was finished she took the finished product downstairs in two cups. The boys were seated across from one another playing with Emmet who was jumping back and forth between the two, running over their shoulders, and nipping at their robes, excitedly. It was nice to see that at least her ferret was making friends.

She quickly handed them the cups and Emmet, realizing he no longer had their attention, began to run around the common room in circles. The twins both gazed into their cups and then at each other, cheered, and downed the potion.

After a few minutes the two begin to return to normal and look at one another. Fred jumped up and used the cup she'd given him as a reflective surface. "Hello, handsome." He smiled at his reflection and George looked at himself as well. "Brilliant." He lowered the cup and beamed at Lyla. "Thanks." He said and she scratched at her head, flattered by the praise but not very used to it.

"Glad I could help." She said and yawned. "Well I'm going to bed now. Goodnight." She muttered, sleepily and waved to the two before heading up the stairs. Emmet followed her and hopped into bed with her after she changed into her pajamas, sick of wearing her uniform, and curled up against her stomach.

...

**Okay so to tell you the truth this chapter was supposed to be way longer but I changed my mind last minute and shortened it by about four thousand words. Hopefully that didn't effect the quality of this chapter. Please let me know if it did. I don't want to shortchange whoever decides to read this fic and possibly follow it. Also I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little rushed I kind of typed it out in a hurry. On another note if you enjoyed this chapter Don't be scared,(Get it? Yeah...I'm not all that funny) go ahead and let me know because who doesn't love reviews? Or you could just message me to let me know how I'm doing because I honestly have no idea how this is going to be received by readers. **

** Thanks a bunch for reading, everyone! I'll update sooner than you think :)**


	2. Rubbish! Chapter two: New friends and

**Rubbish! Chapter two**: New friends and old worries.

**Summary**: In this chapter Lyla hears word of Sirius Black, begins taking lessons from the most unexpected teachers, is thoroughly embarrassed by Professor Snape, and is becoming increasingly stressed about her studies! With all of this excitement who has time for anything else?!

**Author's note**: I decided to go ahead and post the second chapter the same night simply because I felt the first was lacking a bit and felt the need to give the readers more. What can I say? I'm a people-pleaser.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own rights to Harry Potter not its characters.

...

The next day she felt like a zombie in all of her classes and by dinner she could hear her bed screaming her name though she knew she wouldn't be headed to her room for quite some time. She decided that tonight she would practice her spell casting no matter the circumstances. She had to. She quickly ate and as she did so she glanced some ways down the table and spotted Fred and George who waved to her.

She turned her gaze to the magical ceiling and began to think of Salem's and how her old school hadn't been nearly as extravagant and mystifying as this one. Then again it wasn't very large, not compared to Hogwarts anyways, and it wasn't nearly as populated or well known so she could see why it wouldn't compare. They had no one to impress at Salem's and the most magic you'd see in the school were the occasional spells set off by the students.

Lyla suddenly heard a name she'd only heard a few times in America. "Harry Potter." Along with the name "Sirius Black."

There were a few students murmuring among themselves. Of course she'd heard of Harry Potter but in America it was all gossip and rumors. Once she'd heard that the boy was seven feet tall and skinny as a twig who could do all types of magic without even using a wand. Glancing down the table she spotted the scar and knew these rumors were false. He looked just like an average boy although she did feel a bit overwhelmed seeing him in person even if it was from afar.

She finished her plate and she and a load of other students filed out of the dining hall. Lyla, determined to find some privacy, headed to sneak outside but before she could she overheard a few students talking and felt the urge to eavesdrop if only for a moment. She quickly darted around a corner and poked her head out to see who it was.

"Leave it to you, Harry to be hunted by the most infamous killer in wizard history besides you-know-who." A boy that looked somewhat like Fred and George was talking to a girl with extremely curly hair and Harry Potter.

"Oh hush, Ron." The girl scolded. "There's no way Sirius Black would come to Hogwarts anyways. This is the safest place for him to be." She said and Lyla wondered who this Sirius Black she kept hearing about was. She reminded herself to do some research later. If he was this popular then it wouldn't take her long, no doubt.

She listened as they continued to talk until the twins joined the group and she quickly ducked behind the corner again and continued on her way, curious as to what they'd been talking about. Was Harry Potter in danger?

Once outside she found a nice secluded patch of land and figured it was better than nothing. She took out her wand trying to locate an object to practice on. It was dark and her eyes took a while to adjust but the light of the moon was bright enough when it peeked out from behind the clouds that she spotted a small rock and began to attempt the Flipendo spell on it and banish the nagging paranoia the darkness left her with.

The first few times nothing happened but she continued to try until finally she got so frustrated that she stomped over to the rock, scooped it up, and threw it as hard as she could away from her. Emmet immediately chased after it in the dark. Why the hell was this so hard? She'd known first years who could accomplish this spell with ease on the first try.

"Well that's one way of doing it."

Lyla, startled, Jumped and spun to glare at whoever decided to sneak up on her. From this distance she couldn't tell if it was Fred or George but she knew it was one of them by the trademark grin and the mop of red hair. He stood a few feet behind her with his arms crossed.

He decided to get closer and she realized it was George though it took her a moment because the two were identical in nearly every way. The only deciding factor was probably the lack of cruelty in his tone.

"How long have you been there?" She asked wondering just how much of her epic failure he'd witnessed.

He chuckled. "Long enough to see you weren't kidding when said you were rubbish with spells." He responded.

Embarrassed once again in front of one of the twins she quickly made to retreat back to the castle and give up on practicing for the night. "Hey now! I didn't mean any offense." He said and held his hands up in front of him as he stepped into her path. "You just need a bit more practice is all." He said. "And since you helped Fred and I out last night I'll return the favor." He offered.

Lyla looked him over and thought about it as her ferret returned with the small stone and dropped it at her feet. George looked down at the small animal, impressed. "Clever little creature you've got there." He smiled and Lyla figured having someone help her couldn't do much harm. It wasn't as if it could make her any worse.

She picked up the rock and nodded to George. "Okay. Teach away, Professor." She said sarcastically and tossed the stone to him. He caught it with a grin and took out his wand while tossing the stone away from them a short ways. Lyla had to stop Emmet from going to retrieve it while George flicked his wand in a smooth motion that looked second nature. "Flipendo." He said and the rock tumbled over a few times.

"First of all." George said. "You need to concentrate. You have to feel it." He explained. "You can't just say the word and point your wand. You have to want it to happen." He told her sounding a bit over dramatic but Lyla nodded taking his words into account.

She aimed her wand at the rock and tries to mimic George's motion with his wand and concentrated. "Flipendo."

The rock shook a bit but it remained where it sat. The movement exciteed her none the less and she pointed ecstatically. "It moved! Did you see it?" She exclaimed bouncing on the balls of her feet and then looked to George whose eyebrow was raised and Lyla realized he was not nearly as impressed as she was.

She quickly stamped down her excitement and tried again. "Flipendo." And again the rock trembled ever so slightly.

Behind her George sighed. "Not like that. Here." He came to stand beside her and took hold of her wrist. He began to move it in a slow elegant motion a few times until he was sure she'd understand the movement.

"Now try that and say it with feeling." He instructed as he stepped away.

Lyla nodded and tried the movement he'd shown her. "Flipendo!" She exclaimed and was shocked when the rock suddenly flew through the air landing somewhere far off in the shadows. Emmet was all too eager to fetch it and bounded after the stone.

"I did it!" Lyla began jumping up and down and broke into a small victory dance her parents called 'the cabbage patch'.

George began laughing hysterically. "The spell was wicked but your dancing is awful." He said through fits of laughter and Lyla stopped immediately upon the realization that she was making a fool of herself once again.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah..Not so good with the whole dancing thing.." She muttered and quickly changed the subject. "Thank you." She beamed at him and George returned her smile. "You've got a lot of potential." He told her. "Keep up the practice and you'll be caught up with your spells in no time." He set his hands on his hips.

"Anything else you want to practice while we're already here?" He asked and Lyla nodded. "Yeah. I still haven't gotten the hang of the levitation charm." She admitted.

George rolled his eyes as Emmet dropped the stone at her feet again. This time Lyla just threw it as far as she could to keep the little guy busy for a few minutes.

"You're hopeless aren't you? How did you even make it to your fifth year without mastering the basics?" He asked genuinely shocked.

Lyla shrugged and stared up at the bright moon. "Salem's is different from Hogwarts. If a student excels in one area they try to focus on that. Hogwarts is more balanced." She shrugged. George dropped the subject and motioned for her to go on. "Alright well then let's see you give it a try." He said.

Lyla did as she was told and quickly picked a blade of grass and placed it flat on her palm. "Wingardium Leviosa." Like the rock before it, the blade of grass trembled in her palm, hovered a centimeter and then fell back into her hand.

Emmet returned once again with the stone, enjoying the game and this time it was George who took it from him and threw it much farther than she had as he told her, once again, to concentrate. "Block out everything else and focus on nothing but that little blade of grass." He said.

She did as she was told and tried multiple times before she finally got it and happily levitated the blade of grass over to George and wiggled it in front of his upper lip like a mustache.

"Very nice." He praised and gave her a small round of applause which she bowed to dramatically, flourishing her hands and picking Emmet up when he returned. He gave a surprised grunt as she lifted him up and gave him a quick kiss on the nose, happily.

Because it was getting so late, Lyla decided it was time to call it quits. She didn't want to be out too late and since she'd mastered two spells with George's help she felt accomplished enough to call it a night.

As they headed back to the castle George questioned her about her old school. "So what was Salem's like?" He asked.

Lyla thought hard on how to answer that question. There were a multitude of things she could tell him about Salem's but she kept her answer short and simple. "Different from this." She said. "The staff were more laid back in most cases and the students…" She trailed off in thought.

There were plenty of great students at Salem's but there were also far more bad eggs there than there were at Hogwarts. Some of them were amazingly bright but some found it thrilling to be cruel simply for the sake of making others suffer.

Gregory's smirking face popped into her head and she quickly changed the subject as they reached the common room after sneaking through the halls. "Do you think maybe you could help me tomorrow?" She asked him.

Fred spotted them from where he was sitting with a few others students. "Eh? Maybe if I've got the time." George grinned at her as his brother threw an arm around his shoulder. "And just what are you helping her with, Georgie?" Fred asked as he messed up his brother's hair.

George shoved him off playfully. "She really is bad with spells. Thought I'd give her a few pointers since she helped us out. We might need her help again down the road so it wouldn't hurt having her owe me a few favors." He chuckled.

"Is that where you've been?" Fred asked and his brother nodded. Lyla rolled her eyes and watched Emmet run up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. "I'm going to bed." She said and waved to the two and headed up the stairs after her pet and made quick work of getting ready for bed.

It was nearly impossible for Lyla to drag herself out of bed the next morning much less bring herself to bathe but she managed to get to breakfast presentable but miserable. Today her only class would be double potions so she figured she could make it through even if she felt like a corpse dragging herself around.

Emmet, on the other hand was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to start the day and as she made her way to class he darted around in front of her in the halls surprising a few students and nearly getting kicked by a girl who wasn't fond of rodents.

He quit adventuring after that and simply rode her shoulder for the remainder of the journey.

She chose to sit near the back of the classroom today so she could secretly study some spells while Professor Snape went on about the Draught of Peace. She was nearly getting sick and tired of hearing about it by now but still pretended to pay attention, only looking down at her book of basic spells when she was sure he wasn't looking her way.

She wasn't careful enough though and while she was reading up on the Aguamenti spell the book was suddenly flicked from her hands and it flew towards the front of the room where Snape caught it, his eyes drilling into her.

Lyla gulped, caught. "Well well, Ms. Shanks. Can you explain to me why you feel that you don't need to pay attention in my class?" He drawled and she wanted to say 'Yes. Because I already know this stuff like I told you.' But she refrained as a few students turned to look at her giving her the urge to vomit. Being the center of attention didn't agree with her.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I swear I was paying attention." She lied quickly.

Snape smirked. "Then maybe you can tell me what the Draught of Peace is." He said. She nodded and fumbled over her words. "It's a potion that eases anxiety and calms the nerves. It is O.W.L standard." She babbled.

"And how is it made?" He asked.

She remembered Dumbledore asking her the same thing but this wasn't the same at all. She'd been more comfortable around the old wizard not in the middle of a classroom with eyes on her expecting her to fail. "I…Uh…" She ran her hand over her hair and Snape accomplished his punishment of humiliating her for not paying attention.

"You can't tell us? Pity…" He said and motioned to the cauldron at the front of the room. "You claim to have such a talent with potions. Maybe you could show us." He said and Lyla cringed. "Come to the front." He snapped.

Lyla fidgeted for a moment really not liking the amount of attention on her but the look on Snape's face was one of complete seriousness and not one to trifle with so she slowly rose from her seat and did as she was told and stood before him for a moment not sure what to do with herself.

Emmet, apparently not wanting to stick around, slipped from the front of her robes and ran back to her seat, abandoning her. 'Traitor' she watched him go before Professor Snape arched an eyebrow at her. "Well….Go on." He said and motioned to the cauldron again.

Lyla, nervous, slowly began to gather the ingredients she would need but left the book with the instructions untouched and began the process under Snape's watchful eye and the uncomfortable stares of her peers. She glanced up at one point and saw the twins watching her with eyebrows raised. They gave her a quick thumbs up and she went back to her work.

Never before had she been forced to do something like that before and being put on the spot like that she was tempted to grab the cauldron when she was finished and take a few large gulps but instead when she completed her task she stood next to the cauldron, her hands clasped tightly behind her back hoping she would be able to return to her seat soon.

She watched as Professor Snape moved around to the front of the cauldron and peered into it, analyzing her work and then testing it. He seemed begrudgingly satisfied with the finished concoction and waved her away with a monotonously muttered "Very good." And extended his hand holding her book out to her which she took from him and quickly returned to her seat, her face on fire.

For the remainder of the class she kept her head down and when they were all dismissed she fled the room in a hurry to be away from the place.

Emmet pranced after her as she headed for the common room and from behind her came two familiar voices calling out to her and Fred and George Weasley jogged to catch up. "That was brilliant!" They said.

"Did you see the look on Snape's face when you didn't even look at the instructions?" George was grinning from ear to ear. Lyla nodded, still on edge and craving some privacy to collect herself.

"You really are a genius with potions. That one is considered to be extremely difficult but you made it look like the simplest thing in the world." George praised her and normally she'd be flattered but right now she didn't want to hear any of that.

Fred laughed. "Now if only you could figure out how to use a wand like that you could give even Hermione Granger a run for her money." He said and Lyla took a sudden turn hoping to ditch the two. All she wanted was some fresh air and some alone time and Fred's comment cut her pride like a knife. She already knew she was awful with spells and having it thrown in her face all the time wasn't exactly helping.

"Hey! I didn't mean any offense!" Fred shouted after her but she took another turn and ran straight into a girl. It was the same girl she'd seen talking with the boy, Ron and Harry Potter. She was fumbling with a necklace of some sort as they collided and Lyla's bag fell to the floor nearly crushing poor Emmet who moved just in time. Lyla toppled over onto the girl and immediately scrambled to her feet. "I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed and began to grab for the books she'd caused the girl to drop.

"Oh no. I must not have been paying attention to where I was going." The girl said and handed Lyla a few of her books. "No no. It was my fault. I was in a rush." Lyla stumbled over her words.

The girl looked at her and tilted her head, puzzled. "Aren't you the new transfer student?" She asked and Lyla nodded. "Yes. Lyla Shanks." She extended her hand and helped the girl to her feet. "Hermione Granger." The girl responded.

Lyla stared, dumbfounded. This was the girl Fred had mentioned just a moment ago. "Nice to meet you." Lyla said and suddenly Hermione seemed to realize something and her eyes went wide. "Right.." She smiled. "It was nice meeting you. Gotta go." She waved and hurried off and Lyla gave a short wave back as she watched her go.

After she was out of sight Lyla decided to head to the library instead of the common room, reminded by her sudden encounter with Hermione that she'd meant to do some research on Sirius Black.

After obtaining more information than she'd cared to Lyla attended dinner, her head swimming with the information on the murderer that was supposedly after Harry Potter. She wondered if Black would honestly try to get into Hogwarts in order to go after the boy.

Her gaze wandered as she ate and she barely noticed Emmet steal a few scraps from her plate when she caught sight of Hermione. The girl glanced her way and Lyla didn't know what else to do but wave. Ron and Harry sat with her and when Hermione waved back the two glanced over curiously and then turned to talk to Hermione with puzzled expressions.

Lyla left the Dining hall and headed for the common room and decided to do some homework by the fireplace until students began to return from dinner, ruining the peace and quiet. She gathered her things and intended to finish her homework in her room where she could possibly go without being disturbed when she spotted Fred.

He spotted her too and before she could get past the students to get to the stairs he stopped her. "Hey. I really didn't mean any offense earlier." He said but Lyla had gotten over that already or so she told herself. She nodded at his sad excuse for an apology. "Don't worry about it." She told him feeling rather uncomfortable with how many people were coming in. She was definitely ready to retire from the evening.

She was ready to turn and attempt to make her way through the other students when George joined them after talking with another boy and slipping something into his hand with a wink.

"To make it up to you I'll help you with some spells. George and I may not be the best but we can teach you what you need to know." He offered which Lyla gave him a look for. George had been nice enough to help her but she didn't know if Fred would be the same kind of teacher. He was a bit…Different. They might have been twins and very much alike but George was a bit kinder in her opinion.

"Trying to steal my student, eh Freddy?" George cracked. "Not at all but I couldn't have the best potions maker in the school only owing you favors." He grinned back at his brother. George raised his eyebrows at her. "Well it's your lucky day. Two teachers for the price of one." He said.

In the end Lyla agreed. She couldn't deny she needed help and if Fred was nice enough to offer it to her then he really couldn't be all that bad could he? Sure, he could be cruel at times but maybe there was another side to him.

Together they snuck outside with George and Lyla leading the way to the spot they'd used previously. Emmet was darting between their feet and eventually opted to ride on Fred's shoulder. "This little guy sure is friendly." He said and Lyla threw him a look. "Of course he is." It had taken a lot of work for her to get Emmet out of his aggressive habits when she'd first gotten him. He was much more laid back these days.

"So what will we be teaching you?" Fred asked as they arrived at their destination.

"Aguamenti." Lyla told him to which the boy rolled his eyes. "Oh c'mon that's the simplest one next to Accio." He said and she smiled. "I actually know that one." She announced proudly.

"What else do you know?" George asked as Emmet hopped from Fred's shoulder to his. Lyla thought for a moment. "Well..Thanks to George I know Flipendo and wingardium leviosa now. I also know Alohomora, Descendo, Lumos, and Nox of course, and Reparo. I know a few others but not many." She admitted.

George gave Emmet a quick pat. "Well at least you've got some spells mastered. Now Aguamenti is very simple. You're just trying to make water pour out of your wand. Give it a try." He said and Lyla took out her wand. "Aguamenti." She attempted and a little droplet of water swelled at the tip of her wand and dripped onto the ground. She frowned at her own pathetic attempt.

"Eh…That's better than nothing. Try again." Fred encouraged her and she was glad he wasn't making the process more difficult by berating her with insults.

After a few more tries she finally got it to Fred's great relief. "Ah, finally!" He exclaimed. "I thought I'd grow old by the time you got it." He said and Lyla tilted her head. "Aguamenti." She said and flung the water at Fred like she used to play with her friends in her neighborhood when she was a child with the hose in the garden.

"Hey!" He exclaimed while George laughed hysterically at the antics. Practice was actually becoming fun with these two as her instructors. After he calmed down a little he asked her "What's next?"

Lyla fidgeted a bit. "Umm..Everte Statum." She said, nervously. These types of spells scared her. She never wanted to hurt anyone and since her last experience with potentially dangerous spells she'd shied away from them entirely.

Fred looked excited though. "A dueling spell. Wicked fun." He grinned and then looked to his brother. "So who's gonna teach her and who's gonna take the hit?" He asked.

After some deliberation the two decided that George would be her target.

Lyla fidgeted uncomfortably again as George faced her from a few feet away. He didn't look worried one bit but Lyla was suddenly having second thoughts about trying this spell. "What's the matter?" Fred asked her noticing her nervous behavior.

Lyla looked to him and watched as Emmet played in his hair. "I don't want to hurt him." She admitted but Fred just shook his head and urged her on. "He'll be fine. I don't think you'll do much damage anyways even if you manage to hit him." He said. He obviously had no confidence in her abilities. Not that she could blame him.

He showed her how to position herself in an offensive stance and the movement she'd be doing with her wand and then took a few steps away from her. "Alright. Go ahead." He said and then called to his brother. "George I think you might be waiting a while." He joked and the two got a good chuckle out of it.

Lyla concentrated on George and her intentions. 'Knock him off his feet. Knock him off his feet.' She repeated to herself in her head over and over and imagined herself doing just that. Then she took a deep breath while the two cracked jokes and finally she flicked her wand. "Everte Statum!" She exclaimed and, to her amazement and complete horror, George was knocked back and sent spiraling through the air and landed with a heavy 'THUD'.

Panic coursed through her, the memory of what she'd done to Gregory flashing before her eyes. "Oh my god!" She shrieked and ran over to where George was slowly sitting up, his hand on his lower back. Fred jogged over, looking a little too amazed for Lyla's liking.

"Wow. Didn't expect that. You okay, Georgie?" He asked and George looked up at him, stunned. "Yep. I'm fine." He grunted and his brother helped him to his feet. "Just a bit beat up." He said and looked to Lyla who was utterly horrified by the events. "I think that's enough practice for tonight. I think she's got the hang of it." He cracked a smiled but it didn't make her feel any better.

She quickly put her wand away and Emmet took his place on her shoulder as they headed back up to the castle. "Ya know I didn't think you'd be able to do that." George admitted. "I thought that would take you a few days to master but apparently you've not only got a talent for potions but dueling as well." He smiled at her, looking sort of proud but Lyla shook her head feeling awful about what she'd done. "I don't want to have a talent for that." She muttered.

Fred gave her a look. "Why not? It would definitely come in handy if you were ever faced with an enemy." He said to which Lyla quickly replied. "I don't have any enemies….Not here anyways." She mumbled the last part more to herself but she caught the two sharing an inquisitive glance before they were thrown into silence as they snuck through the halls.

As they neared the common room Fred suddenly grabbed Lyla by the back of her robes and shoved her into a shadowy corridor. For a second she wondered why but when she heard footsteps approaching and her question was answered before she even had a chance to ask.

Suddenly someone shone a light at the twins before they could make an escape of their own. It was the boy who'd caught Lyla sleepwalking. He didn't look happy to see his brothers and quickly strode towards them. "What are you doing wandering the halls at this hour? You were supposed to be in your beds by now." He sounded tense like he wasn't in the mood to be dealing with his brothers at all.

Lyla snuck a peek to see George straighten his posture as if he weren't hurt a bit. "Got lost?" He said and Lyla could imagine the smirk on his face.

"You really think I'm going to believe that? You're my brothers. I know you better than anyone in this school in case you've forgotten." The boy snapped at them.

"Are you our brother? I've always thought you were adopted, Percy." Fred cracked.

"I suppose you're going to report us." George sounded bored with his brother and Lyla expected Percy to drag his brothers to an authority to be dealt with thanks to their attitudes but she was shocked when she heard a defeated sigh. "No. I'll give you one free pass this time but just this once. Now get to your rooms." He demanded and the light began to fade away and so did Percy's footsteps.

Lyla waited until she was absolutely sure he'd gone and she joined the twins again and in the darkness she felt George sag against her. "Lumos." She took out her wand and lit the area. "Are you okay?" She asked and George nodded.

"Yeah. Just that spell of yours dinged me up a little." He said and straightened up, taking his weight off of her. "I'm sure I'll be fine by morning." He said and they continued on to the common room. By the time they reached it Lyla had apologized almost a hundred times.

"Sorry…Again." She said as they stepped into the room. He waved off her apology and told her to go to bed. She did so without arguing after watching the two ascend the stairs.

'Way to go, Lyla. Someone's nice to you and you injure them. Awesome.' She thought to herself as she attempted sleep that night.

The next morning, for the first time, Lyla was not confused during charms class. Professor Flitwick spent so long talking about summoning charms which she actually knew about so she did nothing but take notes and remind herself to practice later. Of course then he assigned an insane amount of homework which made Lyla feel extremely overwhelmed and a little thankful that Professor Snape had declined her request for more advanced homework. She had so much to catch up on already but with all the homework she was assigned plus the homework that was no doubt going to be assigned by the other teachers she had no idea how she was supposed to even try to catch up. So during her break she tried to finish most of that homework so she could have somewhat of a chance to practice spellcasting later that night but the chances of that were looking very slim having injured George the night before and the work piling up.

Then came double transfiguration which made her head spin. This was a class she'd only done slightly well in at Salem's. After class was over she stayed to talk to Professor McGonagall to ask her if there was any way she could be assigned a tutor. Unfortunately the woman told her if she couldn't catch up on her own then maybe she shouldn't have come to Hogwarts at all with a sympathetic expression.

During her lunch break she manically worked and somehow managed to finish her homework for charms. Having no friends and no distractions made it easier. Then she thought back on it and wondered if she could consider Fred and George friends. They'd been helping her with her spells after all and they seemed to enjoy spending time with her. The thought of possibly having made some friends made her smile and eased some stress oddly enough.

Since Dumbledore had allowed her to skip taking an elective so she would have an extra period to allow her some leeway to catch up, she used this free period to work on other homework and a chance to practice a spell so should wouldn't have to add it to the list of spells she was going to ask the twins (if they were up for it) to aid her with. She would have liked to take Care of Magical creatures as an elective because she'd always had a soft spot for animals and loved them dearly but she couldn't give up that free period if she wanted to have any hope of catching up with the other students in her year much less making good marks on her O.W.L exams.

After making a dent in her homework Lyla went outside to practice a spell to conjure birds. She went to her usual spot. "Avis." She attempted. It took way too many tries for her to get it and by the time she actually succeeded her free period was over and she had to rush to Herbology which was a subject she could say she wasn't awful with. Her mother was actually enamored with the many different plants of the wizarding world and her garden was full of them and she loved to teach Lyla about the subject on lazy days that they would spend in her garden.

Today Sprout was talking about the spell 'Incendio' which confused Lyla. Why were they learning how to set things on fire in Herbology class? Professor Sprout cleared this up without her having to ask. It was to prepare them for the O.W.L exams which Lyla had hoped she wouldn't have to worry about for a while but it seemed like she couldn't get away from the thought of them. She added that spell to things she'd have to practice. She might not like spells that could cause damage but it was starting to look like she would have to accept the fact that they were a requirement.

She spotted the twins throughout the day in class and in the halls but she was far too busy to talk to them as much as she wanted to apologize again for hurting George. It was really eating at her. Even in her dreams she'd replayed the scene which woke her up over and over until she couldn't stand it anymore and simply stayed awake.

At dinner she didn't eat much. Emmet ate more of her food than she did. The stress was killing her appetite. She picked at her food and was about to leave when Fred and George plopped down on the seats next to her. "Ready for some practice?" They were grinning from ear to ear and George definitely looked like he was feeling better. It was almost as if he'd never been hurt.

She looked at both of them already feeling exhausted. Practicing was the last thing she wanted to do just now but since they were both so chipper she decided to just go along and do what she had to do even though her poor brain wanted nothing more than to sleep.

She apologized again to George as they snuck out to the usual spot but he didn't want to hear any of it and told her to simply forget about it and they helped her learn the Incendio spell which took a bit longer than the others spells she'd tried to learn because she was just so tired. After she managed a small puff of a flame Fred decided it would be best to call it a night.

"What's up with you tonight?" Fred asked, shaking her by one of her shoulders as she trudged along. Emmet was off darting around in the grass. "It's like you were barely here. Something on your mind? Is it a boy?" He looked excited at the very notion of her pining after someone. She shook her head wondering where that came from. "No I'm just stressed. I'm trying to catch up but I have so much to learn and so much homework."

"How can you be stressed? We just started classes!" George exclaimed. Lyla sighed. "I just started learning the most basic of spells, I have to catch up with the rest of the students in my year, and on top of that I'm not even close to being prepared for the O. ." She got woozy just thinking about it all.

On more than one occasion she'd doubted her decision to come to Hogwarts. She'd been warned that it wouldn't be easy but she also hadn't thought it would be so hard! It was almost as if everything was working against her and no matter how hard she tried to catch up she just slipped further and further behind.

"Hey. I know something that'll cheer you up." George piped up suddenly, his usual grin in place. If he didn't cut that out soon he was going to get wrinkles around his mouth by the time he left Hogwarts. "Oh yeah? What's that?" Lyla asked. "First weekend to Hogsmeade is this Halloween. That'll be a nice vacation right?" He said and Lyla arched an eyebrow at him. She'd remembered a permission form she'd had to have signed by her parents about Hogsmeade but she hadn't a clue what it was. "What is Hogsmeade?" She asked.

By the look on the twin's faces you'd think she'd just asked if they could teach her how to perform one of the three unforgivable curses. "You're joking!" Fred exclaimed. "It's wicked! It's just what you need." He said. "No one can be upset on a trip to Hogsmeade…Unless you're on the way back that is." George laughed. Unfortunately Halloween was almost two months away. "Great. By then I'll want to rip my hair out." Lyla grumbled but the twin's moods were infectious and she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Maybe by then you'll actually have hair to rip out." Fred ruffled her hair which made it stick up all over the place worse than it usually did. She tried to smooth it down but she had a feeling it wasn't working and she was filled with insecurity all of a sudden as they entered the common room. She bid them goodnight and rushed to her room and went to bed.

Maybe she should just break down and find some magical way to grow her hair out. It was such a stupid thing to worry about and the twins didn't mean any harm but she couldn't help it. Every time she looked in a mirror she felt robbed. Her hair had never been anything special but it had meant something to her.

...

**Alrighty so how was it? Enjoyable? Deplorable? Mediocre? I feel like this chapter was full of development between the characters and I hope you agree. If you don't, feel free to let me know what you think would improve this story. As I said before I am definitely looking for some constructive criticism. **

** In the next chapter expect more practicing with the Weasley twins, they learn an unexpected secret about their new acquaintance, and the twins find her a tutor? I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter because I sure am!  
**

** Again, thank you all for reading! **


	3. Rubbish! Chapter three: An unexpected

**Rubbish! chapter 3**: An unexpected Secret.

**Summary**: Hello, everyone and welcome to another chapter! In this one the twins learn a secret about Lyla, they find her a tutor, and Lyla takes her first trip to Hogsmeade, and Sirius Black is in the castle? Enjoy!

**Authors note**: Whoo! I am really knocking these chapters out, huh? XD

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of the characters. (I'm getting tired of typing this out XD)

...

Lyla's breakfast went untouched. She gave up on picking at it and looked around the table at everyone eating happily. Some looked tired and not quite ready to start the day. She knew exactly how they felt. Then she noticed Fred and George talking with Hermione Granger and looking her way. She glanced away immediately and left to head for her first class. Maybe if she got there early she would have a chance to talk with the professor and try to see what their curriculum would look like so she could get a jump on studying.

She reached the classroom, winded; having speed walked the whole way. Even Emmet had a hard time keeping up with her. Once inside she made her way into the middle of the room searching for the professor. She spotted her hovering over a table as she set it up for the lesson.

"Excuse me, Professor?" She attempted to get the woman's attention but it took her a few tries to succeed. She seemed really sucked into her task but from what Lyla had experienced with this woman she had a tendency to get stuck on the smallest things.

The woman lifted her huge eyes made even bigger by her glasses and she gasped. "My dear!" She exclaimed and hurried around the table she was setting up. She grasped her by the shoulders and brought her face way too close for comfort and stared into her eyes. "Uhhh…I was going to ask-" She was cut off as the woman backed away, her finger pointing at her almost accusingly. "You're the Seer!" She gasped and began circling Lyla as if she were some fascinating object.

Lyla watched her. She'd been in her class for days and she never even noticed Lyla before.

She hadn't told Professor Trelawney about any of this 'Seer' business. It was only Dumbledore who knew as far as she knew. "Uh..Kind of." She said. "But I'm not a very good one." She cracked a smile but Professor Trelawney didn't find her joke humorous.

"You must train your inner eye. You have neglected it for so long, my dear." Trelawney appeared sad. Lyla couldn't remember neglecting much aside from her spells before she came to Hogwarts and maybe some of her studies. "Right." Lyla grumbled.

Before the woman could get into lecturing Lyla about her inner eye she asked her about the curriculum but unfortunately as soon as she did students began to file in, thoroughly distracting the Professor and she wandered away from Lyla as if she no longer existed.

She swore under her breath and spotted Fred and George taking seats and they waved to her and she recalled the day Fred told her that he believed Divination was a load of 'rubbish' and a bunch of guesswork yet there he sat in the class, probably taking it only because it would be an easy class that he could float by in.

Knowing she wasn't going to get Trelawney's attention again she took a seat at the twin's table not really feeling like sitting alone for once and not knowing anyone else.

"Psst!" George flicked her behind the ear to get her attention, while Professor Trelawney began to speak to the class, which worked all too well. The sensitivity in her ears made her flare up with slight agitation. "What?" She asked as the professor floated around the room dreamily. She really didn't have the leisure to not be paying attention. "We've got you a tutor." Fred grinned. "What? Who? Why?" She asked suddenly very interested.

"To help you out of course!" The two whispered in unison. "You remember we told you about Hermione Granger?" George asked. " Well we asked her because she's absolutely brilliant and she said she'd fit you in." Fred continued. " She's taking loads of classes this year but she said she'd have some time to spare." They both said happily.

This was wonderful news! Not only could she actually have help but from the girl she'd heard to be exceptionally bright, but she also began to feel like she was really truly making friends. Lyla could only imagine how difficult it was going to be but at the same time she couldn't hide how happy she was and she tugged on Fred and George's hair in turn. "You two are lifesavers." She whispered happily with a huge smile. "We know. Now you owe us big time." They smirked.

None of them noticed Professor Trelawney approaching their table until it was too late and she was leaning in close to Lyla like she did before only this time it was definitely more off-putting. "My dear. Just because you are a Seer does not mean you can slack off in this class. You must pay attention so that your third eye may flourish in knowledge." She said dramatically which made Lyla's eyes dart around the room wondering if anyone else had heard her say that. She hadn't exactly been quiet about it.

Trelawney then snapped her head to the side to peer at the twins. "I do not need you two fogging the vision of a true talent." She snapped and then she was back to the front of the room talking about crystal ball gazing, her gaze flickering back to their table every few moments to make sure they were paying attention.

"Did she just call you a seer?" George asked after waiting to make sure Trelawney wasn't paying them any mind. Lyla nodded, her eyes still on Trelawney in case she decided to creep up on them again. As the only elective class which had been damn near mandatory to her parents, this was turning out to be very strange indeed. "So when am I supposed to be tutored?" She asked to avoid further questioning on the matter of her being a 'Seer'.

"Tomorrow in the library after potions." Fred whispered and their eyes snapped to the front of the room just as Trelawney's eyes strayed in their direction. An interesting experience indeed.

After class she expected George and Fred to wander off. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. Instead they followed her outside where she'd planned to practice a few charms before heading to her next class.

"Do you even know what a seer is?" Fred asked. She should have known they hadn't forgotten about that. Also she should not have assumed she could escape their questioning that was bound to pop up eventually. Lyla shrugged not wanting it to be a big deal. "No not really. I know we see things that haven't happened yet. Isn't that all there is to it?" She asked. She'd assumed when she was younger that in the wizarding world that would be somewhat common. It had been an illuminating and awkward day when she'd found out this was not the case.

The two looked at her as if she'd grown another head. "Seers are extremely rare." They both said and Lyla brushed off their comment. Things were difficult enough as it was. She didn't need to be reminded that everyone was suddenly so interested in her because she was supposedly a Seer. No one had been interested in her before now and it hadn't played much of a part in her life before but suddenly it was all anyone cared about when it came to her. She didn't want that to be the case with these two who had taken some sort of interest in her for something else entirely. What it was she couldn't really say though. At first she thought it really was because she was good with potions but they hadn't even asked her to brew anything for them so maybe that wasn't the case at all.

"I'm sorry but I really don't want to talk about this right now. I have to figure out this banishing charm." She pointed her wand, feeling rushed, at a dead leaf dancing across the grass. "Depulso!."

The leaf shot away from her and she smiled. "Well..That was relatively easy." She felt proud of herself. "You're getting better." George praised which did wonders with making her feel better. "Of course that one's simple." Fred had to add. Lyla rolled her eyes at him. It seemed like she was getting used to his cruel wit.

She decided to be a little cruel back."Hey Fred? Can you do me a favor and take out your wand?" Lyla asked thinking she knew exactly who to practice the disarming charm on. She doubted George would want to take another chance with her aiming a wand at him any time soon and she wouldn't feel comfortable practicing on him anyways.

"Ummm…Okay?" He gave her an odd look and removed his wand from his robes. "Expelliarmus!" She exclaimed but unfortunately nothing happened. "Damn." She grumbled and Fred and George broke into laughter. "And to think I was worried for a second there." Fred chuckled. She frowned and tried again. "Expelliarmus!" But to no avail. Maybe she wasn't getting better. Her spells seemed to really be hit and miss.

"Don't worry. You'll get it."

They spent the rest of their break with Lyla trying to disarm the brothers one at a time. Unfortunately time ran out before she could get it and she headed to transfiguration with a heavy heart.

She took a seat alone and away from the others as Professor McGonagall went about teaching them how to turn a dinner plate into a mushroom, something Lyla couldn't for the life of her understand why they would ever need. Then her wild imagination began to run and she imagined herself in a house with no food but finding a cabinet full of plates. She could feast for days. The thought made her giggle to herself which got the attention of the professor and she quickly apologized and began taking notes.

By the time lunch came around she had more homework and less of an appetite than she had the day before but she forced herself to eat knowing she would need her strength.

For the next few weeks Lyla struggled to keep up with everything but she managed to pay attention during her sessions with Hermione. She really was a very bright young lady and under her tutelage she would surely catch up with her classmates, right? She didn't really have a choice though, did she? If she didn't catch up she could kiss her education goodbye.

By Halloween Lyla actually felt like she was accomplishing something and she was really excited for her first trip to Hogsmeade. The night before the trip she could barely concentrate while George attempted to review the spells she'd learned with them. She kept getting distracted with thoughts of what it would be like. She'd been hearing students talking about it non-stop as the date grew closer and the excitement had definitely rubbed off on her.

"I'm starting to get the feeling this is useless." Fred was sitting on the ground teasing Emmet who humored him for the time being. George nodded. "Yeah her head is stuck in Hogsmeade." He murmured and took a seat next to his brother while Lyla paced anxiously.

She suddenly turned to them. "You'll show me around right?" She asked and the two looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure but we're going to Zonko's first thing." They both said and she smiled. "I don't care where we go first!" She stretched and stared up at the sky. Her fear of the dark wasn't so bad when she had people with her and recently she'd barely noticed it. Of course when her gaze wandered off into the distance of the forbidden forest she shuddered.

She plopped down to sit with them. "I'm not being a burden am I?" She suddenly asked. It had occurred to her that maybe the twins didn't want to accompany her. That maybe they wanted to use the trip as a vacation from constantly helping her out. She'd begun to hate having to rely on them so much but at the same time it was fun and it seemed to be the only time she wasn't constantly worrying over homework.

The two thought about it for a moment. "You're not overly annoying I guess." Fred smirked "And it is pretty fun to watch you get excited over the smallest things." George added. They shared a look and nodded. "Nah. Not a burden. We could ditch you any time if you become one." They laughed and Lyla smiled. It was nice to know that she wasn't a bother to them.

They called it a night shortly after that and headed to their respective rooms but Lyla couldn't stop thinking about the trip and it was nearly impossible for her to get any sleep.

That morning, thankful she didn't have to wear her school uniform she donned a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans glad she could feel at ease in her own clothing for once.

Since the twins had offered to show her around she waited for them anxiously in the common room until they came down the stairs. It looked like neither of them had gotten much more sleep than she had. "C'mon!" She urged, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

They yawned simultaneously and grumbled at her. "Ease up, will you? We barely got any sleep last night." Fred muttered and she walked with the two of them out of the common room. "Why not?" She asked. They didn't look nearly as excited about the trip as she had been but maybe she'd been wrong in that assumption.

"We stayed up making a list of things we wanted to get at Zonko's and then one thing led to another and we started plotting out what we would be using them for when we got back." George explained and by the time they finished breakfast the two were definitely more awake and they chatting away while Lyla scarfed down her food. Emmet didn't dare get too near to her plate, only watched before he transferred into Fred's lap who barely paid any mind to him.

Upon entering Hogsmeade Lyla knew that if it weren't for George and Fred she would have had no idea where to begin exploring.

Fred plucked out the list he and his brother made the night before and she followed them to Zonko's joke shop where she was absolutely astounded by the variety of items one could purchase there. She could see now why the boys liked the place so much. It suited their needs perfectly as notorious pranksters.

As they flitted about the store Lyla stopped to look at everything that caught her eye, tempted to make a purchase. Her parents had been sending her money every month and so far she hadn't had anything to spend it on but in the end she chose to keep her money saved. She could simply enjoy watching the twins use the items they purchased. She wasn't trying to stray back into her old habits and if she possessed any one of the items sold in the joke shop she knew she would be far too tempted to use it.

"You should get something." Fred had a pocket full of dungbombs and was loading up on stink pellets while Lyla investigated an item called a fanged Frisbee. She shook her head and moved on. "No. I really don't need that kind of temptation." She smiled to herself.

He gave her a look. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked as if personally insulted by her lack of interest in buying anything. "Well…" She said and watched George bounding around the store, pushing past other students, and stopping to chit chat with a few.. "I kind of used to have a problem with practical jokes at Salem's." She said and Fred did not look like he believed her.

He looked her up and down. "Is that why you're at Hogwarts?" He asked and she shook her head, bitterness filling her very bones. "No." She muttered and slipped past him to join George at the register and look over his purchases.

Impressed with his load she patted him on the back. "Make good use of them." She grinned and it was as if she could already see the gears turning in his head.

As they exited the shop Fred showed he wasn't appeased with her earlier answers. "Hey, George. Lyla just told me something most curious." He said and waved at a group of students that greeted him as they passed. His brother stuffed the list and his purchases in his pockets while he handed some over to Fred for him to carry as well. "What's that?" He asked, pockets bulging.

"She told me she had 'a problem with practical jokes' at her old school." He repeated her earlier words to George. Not that she minded. That wasn't the part of her time at Salem's that she wasn't fond of people knowing.

George glanced over his shoulder at her. "Did you?" He asked. "Sort of….Let's just say if any of the bathrooms ever flooded you could probably find me in the same general area." She said, her eyes darting about as they walked along. "Unfortunately there was never much opportunity for practical jokes at Salem's without running the extremely high risk of being caught." She sighed. "Too many students in one small school." She told them.

Fred and George raised their eyebrows. "Huh. You learn something new every day." They said in unison and the two told her about when they once convinced their mother that they were each other all in good fun and then George recanted a tale about the Christmas they enchanted one of Ron's sweaters so that whenever he put it on it shrank three sizes. The two called these 'small gags' and had tons to tell her.

She told them about the experience she'd had over break once when she'd been sleepwalking and somehow managed to set off the fireworks her father was saving and when they questioned her about it they found she'd been asleep the whole time. "But those days are behind me." She said as she looked back on how much she'd craved attention in those days. "I've sworn off that stuff. Besides…You two get into enough trouble for the three of us." She cracked.

"Pity." Fred said. "I wouldn't mind seeing you cut loose and do something reckless for once." He grinned and Lyla shot back by telling him it was reckless enough to hang out with them.

They browsed shops with her, showing her the variety of different things Hogsmeade had to offer and when they tired of those they took her to the shrieking shack, telling her the many rumors and stories of the place along the way.

Standing at the gate, looking out at the place she couldn't help but want to get closer. A part of her wanted to see if they could get inside and she asked the twins who shook their heads. "Nah. We've tried. There's no way in." They said and she felt a bit disappointed. As much as she had a fear of the unknown she somehow felt like she wouldn't be so scared as long as the brothers were with her. They just had a way of making the worst things seem less unpleasant.

All the same she asked them if they could get closer which they gladly obliged, grinning at one another approvingly, and they slipped through the gate. The second she set foot on the soil on the other side though she got a strange feeling. She knew the feeling from somewhere but at the moment she couldn't place it.

Lyla shrugged it off and continued on but the closer they got the worse the feeling grew until they were only a few yards from the strange building and she grabbed onto George's arm, suddenly becoming lightheaded.

The twins stopped and looked down at her. "You alright?" George asked as her grip tightened on him and her eyelids began to flutter. "Ugh…No." She managed to say before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and suddenly she was no longer with them.

She was inside a house. It took her a moment but she knew from the feeling of the building that it was the shrieking shack. Everything was hazy and unfocused. Then she was going up the stairs. Then she saw a blur of black. She heard shouts and a wand shot across the room into someone's hand. Then there was nothing. Darkness. Silence.

Lyla slowly opened her eyes, her head feeling fuzzy as if it were full of static and she rubbed at her eyes. When she realized she was surrounded in shadows she quickly searched around for her wand and immediately upon finding it whispered "Lumos." Frantically.

With the room illuminated she found she was in the infirmary and she couldn't tell what time it was or even what day it was for that matter. How long had she been here?

She rose from the bed, took a look around, confirmed she was alone, and left to head back to the common room no longer needing her wand for light as she entered the lit hallways.

Back in the common room she saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins sitting around talking and the sound of her entrance gained a bit of attention.

"What are you doing up and about?" Fred asked from his seat. Lyla didn't answer but instead asked him "What time is it?"

George looked a bit amused at her confusion. "Nearly time for the Halloween feast." He said and the very thought of food made Lyla nauseous .

Emmet, whom she'd left behind for the trip, poked his head from beneath a seat and approached her cautiously, taking a sniff, and then quickly climbed up her robes and made a soft sound in her ear which she then rubbed absently.

"Wonderful…" She grumbled and looked at Harry. "Sorry if I interrupted anything." She said suddenly realizing that maybe they'd been discussing something important. Harry shook his head. "Not at all." He said and then gave her a strange look. "You're the transfer student Hermione is tutoring aren't you?" He asked and Lyla nodded, suddenly feeling rude and extending her hand to him.

"Lyla Shanks. It's nice to meet you, Harry Potter."

He took her hand and shook it and she felt a strange current of, what felt like, an electric shock streak through her brain and for a moment she heard the same shouting she had at the shrieking shack and jerked her hand back, startled. "Have you been to the shrieking shack by any chance?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "No. I can't go to Hogsmeade. I couldn't get my permission form signed." He sounded pretty beat up about it. "I see. That's a shame. It's a wonderful place. I hope you get to go someday." She told him hoping he would think nothing of her strange behavior. She didn't feel up to explaining much at the moment.

Lyla glanced over to see Ron staring at her and once again she was left with the strange feeling that she was being rude. "Sorry. What's your name?" She asked him, not wanting to reveal that she already knew his name mostly because she didn't want to seem too creepy. "Ron Weasley. Fred and George are my older brothers." He said and she smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Ron." She said and suddenly had the urge to go to the library. Maybe a bit of homework would take her mind off of the strange events of the day. When she announced that she would not be attending the feast Fred and George insisted she go and enjoy the food. That it was a chance to not worry about her studies for once and as much as she wanted to go and she knew for a fact Emmet wanted to attend as well, if his twitching nose was any indicator, she felt it would be best if she went to the library. She did have some homework to catch up on and after her first day at Hogsmeade all she wanted was all of her homework finished so afterwards she could simply relax and not have to worry about anything.

She got to work and the time flew and when she finished and checked the time she was shocked that she'd managed to finish so much. Then again she'd kind of been sucked into her work, determined to get it done.

When she began to gather her things together Emmet suddenly darted to the library entrance and when she caught up to him he was standing on his hind legs staring at the door curiously. She thought for a moment he might be assuming she'd try to catch the end of the feast but it was definitely finished by then.

Lyla expected him to dart for the dining hall the second she opened the door but instead he scurried behind her which she gave him a curious look for. "You're acting strange.." She muttered to him and thought maybe she could catch up with Hermione and inform her of her accomplishment but when she made to return to the common room students were filing into the great hall.

She watched the crowd as the students murmured and whispered to one another and she caught the name 'Sirius Black' mentioned quite a few times. When the twins passed her she grabbed them by their sleeves and tugged them over to her. "What's going on?" She asked.

The two looked down at her in surprise. "Where have you been?" They asked. "The library like I told you earlier." She said and the two motioned for her to follow them. "Well when the feast was over everyone headed to the common room." Fred said, bending down and lowering his voice. "And when everyone gets there the fat lady is nowhere to be found and her picture is shredded." George did the same and continued the story.

Lyla listened intently as they went on. "When they find the fat lady she tells everyone it was Sirius Black who slashed at her because she wouldn't let him in." They said and Lyla frowned. "I thought he couldn't get into Hogwarts." She mumbled and they both grinned. "That's the mystery. They're searching the castle for him right now." Fred said and the twins looked rather excited by the thought of a murderer on the loose in the castle. "All the students have to sleep in the Great hall tonight." George said as they entered the hall.

The girls and boys were split up on opposite sides of the room and slept in sleeping bags and Lyla hoped against hope that she wouldn't sleep walk that night. The last thing she needed was the entire school seeing her wandering about, dead asleep.

Luckily she slept just fine that night despite the very serious nature of the recent events. Before she drifted off Lyla wondered just what was going on in the wizarding world.

...

** I'm really getting into writing this fic. I'm spending so much of my time on it! It feels nice to crank out these chapters like I've been doing. :)**

** Anyways...I hope you're all enjoying this story so far because I know I am. Writing is so fun. **

** In the next chapter the holidays are rolling in and there's tons of fun to be had! I'll be posting it soon so keep an eye out for it! **

**Thank you for reading! See ya next time.**


	4. Rubbish! Chapter four: A Very Merry

**Rubbish! Chapter four**: A very Merry Christmas.

**Summary:** The holiday season is here and let it snow! XD Gift giving all around and general good feelings and whatnot. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of the characters.

...

The next few months passed without much incident. With the twins helping her she mastered the disarming charm, the Levicorpus Jinx, protégo, Stupefy, Arania Exumai (which resulted in a very cross frog), Immobulis, and Tarantallegra which Fred showed her how to use on Ron when the boy wasn't paying attention.

She spent a lot of her time, when she wasn't being tutored or helped by the twins, studying.

As the holidays inched closer Lyla began to wonder if she should present the people who'd been so kind to her with gifts. It wouldn't be odd to show her appreciation would it? For a while she wondered if maybe she didn't know them well enough to do something like that but decided that during her next visit to Hogsmeade she would see what she could find. Hopefully she would have enough for the lot of them but with the amount of money she'd saved up she figured it wouldn't be much of a problem. Hopefully.

On the day of their next Hogsmeade visit Lyla made sure to go alone, avoiding the twins all together not wanting them to assume she wanted them to go along with her. She spotted them talking alone and slipped off before they could spot her.

She spent a lot of time trying to figure out what each of them would like. Fred and George were a bit simple because of their love for all things silly and mischievous at Zonko's but she went to each and every shop, compared prices, and eventually settled on getting Fred some fireworks, a few dungbombs, some stink pellets (they seemed to run though these items faster than they could buy them), and a hat that, the shop keeper told her when he caught her staring, would keep the wearer's entire head warm even in zero degree weather which was practical in her mind.

For George she purchased an ever-bashing boomerang, a few screaming yo-yo's, belch powder, and small leather strap bracelet with a charm on it that would tell the wearer's moon. She'd seen muggle versions of these that based the color it would show on the heat given off by the wearer but this was the genuine item. She assumed it would always be stuck on mischievous but she found it charming.

For Harry and Ron she bought as many sweets as she could from Honeydukes and the rest she spent on Hermione for new quills and a few interesting books. She didn't know her all that well but she hoped she'd be pleased with Lyla's choices.

Finally finished with her shopping, Lyla left the last shop with her packages and spotted Fred and George leaving Zonko's and she immediately began to hope and pray they hadn't bought much of the stuff she'd already gotten them as gifts.

They spotted her and made their way over, eyes glued to the bundle in her arms. "And what do we have here? Buying gifts are we?" They said in unison and Lyla was glad she paid for the gift-wrapping to keep their prying eyes of what she'd gotten them.

"Yup!" She nodded and turned to walk away. The two were not so easily ditched. "Oooooh for who? A boy maybe?" Fred asked and Lyla rolled her eyes and gave him a flat look. "The amount of interest you have in my nonexistent love life is becoming exceedingly creepy." She told him to which he smirked.

He nudged his brother with his elbow. "Hey we were both thinking it but I don't think George would want to know if it was." He got a good laugh out of imagining his brother in some sort of emotional turmoil. George just shook his head. "Right." He said sarcastically and then to Lyla he asked "So who did you get gifts for then?" He asked and Lyla grinned over her shoulder at him. "Wouldn't you like to know." She laughed.

"Yeah. We would!" They said and Lyla ignored their questioning for the rest of the evening. They would not get her to spill the beans no matter how hard they tried.

Somehow she managed to keep the gifts a secret until Christmas rolled around. More than a few times she'd been tempted to just tell them and let them have their gifts early just so they would stop bothering her about them all the damn time. She'd expected them to grow bored of the subject long before then but they just didn't want to let it go.

Christmas morning she didn't feel like putting much effort into her appearance and simply threw on a long sleeved shirt that was thick enough to keep her warm and a pair of jeans and stuffed a hat on her head to cover her messy hair.

She looked herself over in the mirror and Emmet chirped at her from the bed where she'd piled the gifts as if telling her to hurry up. She sighed, looked at herself once more and shrugged. "That's about as good as it's gonna get." She muttered to herself and then took the bundle down into the common room, Emmet nearly tripping her up in his haste to get downstairs.

Lucky for her Hermione just so happened to be right next to the bottom of the stairs and steadied her. Lyla thanked her and took the packages over to a seat to drop them into and sort them out while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins all looked on curiously. From the looks of things they'd all just finished unwrapping their presents from friends and family.

She didn't say anything to them as she sorted through the pile and eventually handed Ron and Harry both large boxes with they gave her curious looks for. "Merry Christmas." She told them. Even though she'd only gotten them both something because she didn't want them to feel left out it still felt good to see them smile so brightly when they opened their gifts.

Then she tossed the twins packages at them and they both grinned huge and began ripping at the wrapping like wild animals. Then she turned to Hermione and held out her presents for her to take. Her face broke into a pretty smile and unwrapped them carefully. Looking over the gifts she told Lyla that she hadn't needed to get her anything.

Lyla shrugged. "Well since you've been helping me with my studies I figured I had to show you my gratitude somehow." She told her. "I wish I'd thought to get you something." The girl said, petting one of the books smooth leather cover. "It's fine. You've given me the gift of knowledge and believe me when I tell you that is all I could ask for." She laughed. She knew for a fact that without Hermione's help she'd be bald from stress by now.

She glanced over to see Fred and George comparing gifts and George putting on the bracelet and immediately it turned purple for mischievous just as she'd predicted and Fred crammed his hat on his head and shuddered. "Oh, man that does the trick." He grinned and the two thanked her while Harry and Ron began trading sweets.

In all of the excitement Emmet looked a bit left out and she scooped him up and grabbed something from her pocket. "No I didn't forget about you, Em." It was a small sweater that she'd found that would fit his little squirmy body perfectly. He struggled as she put it on him and after she released him he stood on his back legs peering down at the strange article of clothing, scratched at it, and then began prancing around the room as if to show off.

With presents out of the way she wanted to head to the library for a bit of extra study time. The place was practically becoming a second home to her. She spent more time there than in her own bed these days.

As she left, Emmet in tow, the twins followed. "Hey, we have gifts for you too." They said which earned them a curios look. "You do?" She asked. She really hadn't expected anything from them but it was nice that they'd thought about her for the holidays. Their teachings had been more than enough.

They both nodded with identical grins. "But!" Fred smirked. "You don't get them until later tonight." George continued. "Meet us at the usual place for practice after dinner." The both said and quickly left her.

"Ooooookay weirdos…" She muttered as they returned to the common room. Lyla smiled to herself as she headed for the library wondering just what exactly she could expect from the two troublemakers.

Lyla felt pretty accomplished after her studies and was actually starting to look forward to classes resuming. She may not have been the top student but at least now she would be able to answer their questions if a Professor were to ask her. It would be a small victory.

At dinner she tried her hardest not to stuff her face but she did anyway all the while telling herself she'd need to get more exercise in the future. She was already self conscious enough. She didn't need to be gaining weight.

The twins were nowhere to be seen at the meal and she wondered how the two could possibly miss such a wonderful feast. What were they planning?

After finishing her meal she snuck away to the usual practice spot as instructed, Emmet sluggishly following thanks to the amount of food he'd stolen from her plate. Fred and George were nowhere to be seen and in the darkness she became wary and uncomfortable, her old fear rearing its ugly head. "Lumos." She illuminated the area trying to ease her nerves. What did a witch have to be afraid of in the dark? She could use magic! She tried to reason with herself but it didn't do her any good.

From behind her Emmet chirped and the twins emerged from the shadows, starling her and she aimed her wand at them out of reflex. "I really hate it when you do that!" She hissed at them, lowering her wand.

They both chuckled quietly and put a finger to their lips reminding her of the night she'd been caught by Percy sleepwalking. "Shhhh!" They motioned for her to follow them and to put her light out. She wasn't all too comfortable with that but she did as she was told.

"So what's all the secrecy about?" She asked, trailing closely behind them. They glanced over their shoulders at her and snickered. "Well we were thinking." Fred started. "What could we get you as a gift for Christmas." George went on. "Other than our fabulous company and wonderful teachings." Fred laughed.

"We wracked our brain." They said. "And suddenly it hits us." They grinned and suddenly stopped in a wide open space next to the Quidditch field which was making Lyla even more uncomfortable in the darkness than she already was. The twins had told her about the Quidditch match that had been interrupted by the dementors and she wondered if they could possibly show up again and her eyes darted around trying to catch any moving dark figures.

"So…What hit you?" She asked trying to rid herself of her negative thoughts. The two turned to her. "First of all, we won't be able to enjoy it for very long." Fred said. "And when we say run, you need to run." George finished.

""Okay." She was getting more and more curious by the moment. "So what is it?" She asked and the two stuck their wands in the air and suddenly fireworks were bursting everywhere. Poor Emmet nearly jumped out of his skin and began jumping all over the place trying to figure out where the blasting noises were coming from.

These were fireworks like she'd never seen before. Some looked as if they were alive. There were giant blue birds and bright lightning bolts of color, some in the shape of flowers, and some were amazing animated animals. Lyla stared in amazement at the wonderful shapes taking form in front of her eyes trying to figure out when the two had time to plan this out.

She glanced up at the castle and could see the faces of students in the windows from a distance. She grinned up at the awesome display realizing this wasn't just a gift for her but a gift for the whole school compliments of the Weasley twins. She was just lucky enough to have a front row seat to the show.

It ended a bit too quick and while she was gazing up at a giant blast of rainbow colored sparks that raced around in the air George suddenly tugged on her sleeve. "Time for the running." He exclaimed and he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along as they made a break for the school before any of the staff came looking for the source.

They acted casual while walking through the halls though students gave the twins thumbs up and praised them for their brilliant show. They caught a glimpse out one of the windows of a few staff members searching the grounds.

When they made it back to the common room the twins collapsed into laughter while Lyla took a seat. Emmet looked glad to be rid of the loud noises and burrowed into her robes for comfort.

"I think that's enough excitement for one night." Fred's face was a bit red from exertion and he looked happier than he'd ever seen her. Seeing him right after a stunt like that was pretty enlightening. She'd never seen two people in such high spirits.

He headed for the stairs leading up to the boy's dormitories and glanced back at his brother. "You coming, George?" He asked and George, grinning from ear to ear, nodded. "Yeah. I'll be right there." He told his brother and Fred continued to chuckle as he ascended the stairs.

George leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths, his face just as red as his brothers. Lyla shook her head unable to believe what she'd just seen. Of course she'd seen fireworks before but nothing like that. They were so amazing and she knew for a fact she would never forget them.

"Pssst!" George got her attention and curled his finger. "Come here." He said and Lyla quirked an eyebrow at him and rose from the chair after retrieving Emmet from her robes. She set him on the seat and crossed the room to where George was standing with one hand behind his back. "You didn't think the fireworks were your only gift, did you?" He asked with a chuckle.

"But they were wonderful. What could possibly top that?" She asked.

George shrugged. "Eh, it probably won't top it but I just saw it and thought you might like it." He said and then lowered his voice and glanced towards the stairs his brother had disappeared up moments ago. "I'm pretty sure Fred has something for you too. He's been acting dodgy since we got back from Hogsmeade. Thinks he's sneaky." He chuckled quietly and extended his hand. In it was a small box that fit snugly in his palm. It was a plain white box with a tiny silver bow on top and Lyla took it, her curiosity overwhelming and she hoped that it wouldn't explode in her hand. She never knew what to expect from either of the two twins.

Lyla looked up at him before she opened it and noticed he was watching, eyebrows raised. Inside was a small, clear crystal ball with its own stand. She cocked her head and stared into the little ball as George's face swirled inside it. "You gave me a crystal ball with your face in it?" She asked, amused.

George shook his head. "No. It shows you the face of whoever you're thinking about. You've had a rough start here at Hogwarts and I figured since you're pretty far from home you might like it. That way you can see your parent's faces whenever you want or friends or whatever." He looked away as he said 'whatever' and Lyla arched an eyebrow.

"Thank you." She said and opened her arms, the universal sign for 'hug?' and they just kind of stared at each other for a moment before Lyla felt waaaay too awkward and just hugged him anyways. He hesitated for a moment and then she felt his arms circle her returning her hug.

"Who knew you had a sensitive side?" Lyla joked after a moment and George chuckled against her ear. She quickly stepped away and rubbed at the sensitive area. He didn't seem to notice and pointed a stern finger at her. "Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold." He grinned. She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh noooo. Whatever would you do if word got out that George Weasley was really a nice guy?" She laughed and he poked her in the middle of the forehead with his index finger. "I'd deny it to my dying breath." He smirked.

Lyla yawned then, the day having worn her down, and gave him a short wave. "Goodnight and again..Thank you." She smiled to herself as she ascended the steps to her room and readied herself for bed. After brushing her teeth and changing into some comfortable pajamas she curled up with George's gift under her blanket and whispered "Lumos" to gaze into the little crystal. She wanted to see her parents so she tried to think of them and stared at the little glass ball waiting for it to change to their faces.

It didn't happen. No matter how long she stared into it the only face that swirled within it was George's and it would give her a wink every now and again. Were the twins truly her friends now? It had felt like forever since she'd had friends. She'd only had a few at Salem's and could they really count as friends? They hadn't written to her since she left the school. She could only imagine the things being said about her in the halls of Salem in her absence.

She shoved those thoughts away and smiled to herself at the thought of having friends and muttered "Nox." As she placed the little ball on its stand on a small table next to her bed. The light from the moon filtered through the drapes in the room and she could still see George's smiling face staring back at her from the table. She rolled onto her side and watched it as she fell asleep.

Lyla tossed and turned in her sleep. Her dreams were full of obscure images. One particular image kept repeating itself. An axe. A very large axe, gleaming in the light of the setting sun. As it swung down with a wet "THUD' She jerked awake, sitting up immediately and her eyes searching for the crystal for comfort.

There was none to be found within. All that stared back at her was the masked face of a stranger that faded away after a few moments.

Lyla ripped her gaze from the ball and rose from the bed to quickly get dressed. She threw on a plain tanktop, jeans, and a heavy jacket and then hurried to the bathroom to brush her teeth. In the mirror she noticed her eyes looked puffy as if she'd been crying. She splashed some water on her face and smoothed her hair down before throwing the hood of her jacket up.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets and made her way down to the common room. Emmet chased after her, scurried up her leg and took a ride around the back of her neck, his face poking out of the hood to survey the surroundings.

Lyla was sunk so deep in her thoughts that she barely noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting around until she caught a few bit of their conversation that stopped her in her tracks.

"With Buckbeak's hearing drawing nearer I'm worried about Hagrid. What if he does something drastic if they decide to do something like…Execute him?" Hermione whispered the last part.

Lyla's head began to swim and she wondered if she'd heard correctly. 'Execution?' She turned to look at them, scenes from her dream flashing fresh in her mind. "Did you say execution?" She asked. Harry nodded. "Yeah. But we're not sure yet." Ron scowled. "This is all Malfoy's fault. If he wasn't such a crybaby Buckbeak would be fine."

She stared at the three of them and resolved, in that moment, to speak to Professor Trelawney about the things that had been happening to her. "Why do you ask?" Hermione asked. Lyla shook her head. "I don't know yet." She quickly left the common room and rushed to breakfast, her mind reeling.

She couldn't bring herself to eat much and only spared the twins a glance when they plopped down next to her to say good morning and to ask her if she was up for practice.

"Sure but not right now. I have something to do. I'll catch up with you in a little while. In the meantime you should put some of those gifts I got you to use" She pushed her plate aside, distracted, and got up. The two exchanged looks "That's an excellent idea." They said and apparently Emmet decided he'd much rather spend time with the Weasley twins and didn't bother to follow when she rushed off, hands stuffed in her pockets and her head down as she headed for Professor Trelawney's classroom.

She found her hovering over a large crystal ball staring deep into it, her eyes intense and analytical. "Professor?" She called out to her but she didn't answer. Lyla took a seat opposite her and leaned close to the crystal ball wondering just what it was that she was seeing. It was nothing but cloudy to her for a while until a face began to loom in the mist. It was a handsome man with scruff on his chin and sunken eyes. She recognized his face from somewhere. Then she remembered. A newspaper. "Sirius Black." She whispered and suddenly Trelawney's eyes shot up.

"You see him too?" She whispered excitedly. Lyla nodded and suddenly threw the tablecloth over the crystal ball to keep the professor from getting distracted. "Professor I need to talk to you about something." She said and Trelawney's gaze burned into her. "What is it, my dear?" She asked.

"My dreams…They've become…I don't know." She fumbled for her words trying to not sound like a crazy person which, Lyla found, proved to be very difficult and ended up just spilling it all."I feel like I'm seeing things that are important but I haven't seen enough to make sense of it." She explained. "I passed out on my first trip to the shrieking shack after having a vision but it was just bits and pieces of images and sounds. Now I'm dreaming of an axe and there's talk of an execution…." She trailed off.

"Oh, my lovely. You're inner eye is opening to the world around you. No worries." She stood and leaned over the table to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "All things will become clear to you in time." She said and then told her to begin to meditate whenever she could and to begin writing down the things she was seeing and then sent her on her way telling her she would speak with Dumbledore.

'Whole lot of good that did..' Lyla thought to herself bitterly and slumped against the wall in the corridor and stared out of a window. Even the divination teacher wouldn't help her. The one person Lyla had thought could offer some insight and she was about as informational as Emmet.

She tried to decide where to go from there and decided to just head back to the common room to see if she could catch up with Fred and George. She didn't want to blow them off and be rude to some of the only people who'd been nice to her.

When she arrived the twins were talking with a few first years and selling them some different products that she could only assume would get them in trouble if not used wisely. They spotted her and each held up an an index finger to tell her to wait a moment. She nodded and headed up to her room really quick to put on a lighter jacket knowing that practice would make wearing the heavy one she wore now an inconvenience.

She tossed her jacket on the bed paying little attention and grabbed a lighter jacket and headed back downstairs. The twins were already waiting by the fire and when she appeared they headed out to the usual spot.

"So what did you have to do this morning that was so important?" Fred asked. She should have known they'd question her. "Had to talk to Trelawney." She gave them a quick explanation hoping it would ease their curiosity enough so they could just practice so she could study later.

"What did you have to talk with her for?" They both asked. She took out her wand. "It's nothing. Now help me with Arresto Momentum please?" She asked. The two exchanged looks and rolled their eyes but at least they dropped it. "Alright." Fred said as George dug through the snow to find a stick and told her to try to slow it during its fall after he tossed it in the air.

Lyla began getting frustrated after the fourth or fifth time when she just couldn't get the timing right. Her aim seemed to be off. "You're lacking concentration again." The twins said in unison. They were right. Her thoughts were elsewhere but that wasn't something she could help. They had no clue what was going on in her head.

"Sorry." She muttered and told George to throw the stick up in the air again. She wouldn't give up. Suddenly Fred muttered something. "I nearly forgot. You two keep at it. I've got something I need to do. I'll catch up with you two in a little while." He said as he began walking off. Lyla watched him go and then turned her gaze George. "What's that all about?" She asked but he shrugged. "No idea." He said and they went back to practice.

After she managed to make the stick slow somewhat George suggested they take a break and they began to wander the grounds, trudging through the snow. The slush was pretty but Lyla wasn't a big fan of winter. "I can't wait for spring." She said as she scooped up a handful of snow and let it fall. "I miss flowers." She admitted. She'd always enjoyed watching her mother work in the garden and the times when her mother would let her help were some of the best times she'd had as a child.

"Flowers eh?" He asked and took out his wand. "Orchideous." He gave her a bright smile as flowers popped from the end of his wand. "Oh wow!" She stared at him in amazement. "You know sometimes you react to things like a muggle." He chuckled.

Her eyes shot to the ground. "Yeah. I know. It's just I'm not used to this kind of magic. Simple magic. Beautiful magic." She told him as they continued to walk. "What do you mean? They didn't do stuff like this at Salem's?" He asked. She shook her head. "Not really. Most students were more interested in spells that could cause damage or protect them. They were more interested in more practical magic." She explained. There were some exceptions of course but the majority of students weren't interested in the type of magic George had just shown her.

"Especially Ipswich." She muttered. Gregory's house. They were known for being half blood and muggle haters. They were all so serious and judgmental.

"What's that?" George asked. "Oh, its one of the houses at Salem's." She explained. "They had different houses there? Which one were you in?" He asked. She nodded. "Fairfield." She smiled and she remembered the song they would sing in the hallways on days when everyone was in high spirits. She sang a bit of "When the lake calls." And managed to not butcher every note like she was prone to do and George smiled.

"Salem's doesn't sound that different from Hogwarts." He said and Lyla shook her head. "Believe me….It is."

"How so? Other than the classes of course."

"The cruelty of some of the students at that school knows no bounds." She muttered and George shrugged. "I don't know we've got some rotten ones here. Take Draco Malfoy as an example. Rotten to the core, that one." He said and Lyla was reminded of the short conversation she'd had that morning when Ron had mentioned this boy.

She suddenly felt bitter. "Any students ever hold down another student and shave their head?" She asked and she saw George's eyes flit to her hair and then down at the ground. "Not that I know of." He sounded apologetic and she felt like an ass. "I'm sorry." She muttered. "I shouldn't dwell on the past." She said with a sigh.

He smiled and patted her head. "Well if their goal was to make you ugly they sort of failed…..Sort of." He said, chipper and Lyla shoved him, his smile contagious.

They returned to the castle for lunch. Since the castle was fairly empty for the holidays they were nearly alone aside from a few other students and as Lyla looked at the food her stomach began to growl furiously. George glanced down at her stomach and she began to fix her plate and eat. She minded her portions though once again worried about her figure. She knew she was still growing but she feared getting overweight. Another stupid thing she worried about.

"Easy there. Don't choke." Fred suddenly joined them and she noticed he was wearing the hat she'd gotten him and she did nearly choke when he patted her on the back harshly. She quickly swallowed her mouthful and took a long drink of water. "Jesus, Fred. Could you be any more obnoxious?"

"I could, yeah." He laughed.

She finished her food while George told his brother of the tiny bit of progress they made with her practice and Lyla, figuring she'd been slacking, then told them she needed to study and headed for her room for some privacy.

When she got there she made to to remove the jacket from her bed and noticed something on top of it. Emmet, who was napping on her pillow suddenly woke and sauntered over to the foreign object and sniffed at it curious. It was a small rectangular box. She sat on her bed and picked it up. There was a small piece of paper stuck under the bow that wrapped around the box and she removed it and read it.

_ Thanks for the hat and the laughs._

_ -Fred._

She momentarily wondered how Fred had managed to sneak into her room to put it here and then reminded herself who she was thinking of. Of course Fred would be able to, the sneaky fox. She set the piece of paper aside and opened the box to see something wrapped in a black silk cloth. She lifted it and parted the cloth and she smiled huge. It was a deck of beautifully designed tarot cards in red and gold, the colors of Gryffindor.

"Wow.." She muttered to herself. Those two seemed to have put a lot of thought into their gifts. She kind of felt bad she hadn't done the same for them. She'd just guessed at what they'd like.

She didn't leave her room for the rest of the evening and tried to meditate before giving up and just studying and then going to sleep.

….

**Awhhhh! Isn't that just adorable? Well hold on to your socks ladies and gentlemen because things aren't going to be sweet for long! But you'll just have to read the next chapter to understand what I'm talking about haha! **

** See ya next time and, as ever, THANKS FOR READING!**


	5. Rubbish! Chapter five: Friendships

**Rubbish! Chapter five**: Friendships, Visions, and Distractions.

**Summary**: Welcome to another chapter of Rubbish! We've got a visit with Dumbledore in this chapter, some more sleepwalking, Lyla hears some interesting stuff concerning the twins. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own harry Potter nor any of the characters.

...

The second she saw Fred the next morning at breakfast she made sure to thank him for his gift. It really was thoughtful of him to get her something. She would have been content with just the fireworks. He brushed it off in the most nonchalant way. "It's nothing." He said but his brother was pretty interested and he didn't even notice when Emmet snatched a biscuit from his plate.

"What did he get you?" He asked while Lyla quickly grabbed for her furry companion and wrestled the biscuit from his grasp. The rodent gave her a snort and looked like he was pouting until she gave him a small piece from the prize he'd snatched for himself. "You know you too are more alike than you may think." She said while she watched Emmet nibble happily and she scratched the top of his head. "Even when you're trying to accomplish something on your own." She chuckled and pushed away her plate.

The two raised their eyebrows at her as if saying 'Go on.' And she rested her elbow on the table and plopped her chin into her palm. "He got me a deck of Tarot cards, very pretty by the way and thank you again, and you got me a crystal ball that shows the face of whoever I'm thinking about." She sighed at their many similarities and shook her head.

George leaned forward to stare over at his brother and their faces split into identical grins. "Wicked." They said and Lyla rose from the table.

"Oi!" They both jumped up. "We were wondering." Fred said. "Since it's so dreadfully boring around here during the holidays." George went on. "If you wanted to have some fun and skip practicing for the day." They suggested.

Lyla could only imagine the things the two would consider 'fun'. "Like what?" She asked and the boys began listing off options.

"We could go confuse the Whomping Willow." Fred offered.

"We could take you down memory lane and flood the bathrooms and then watch Filtch run around like a madman." George said.

"Dungbombs in the library." They both cackled at the idea.

The listed off a few more things but Lyla didn't really feel like doing anything of that sort. Besides she'd already told them she wouldn't be participating in their shenanigans. She may have liked a good prank as much as the next person but right now she had a nagging feeling. Like she had something else she needed to be doing and if there was anything she'd learned about instincts it was to follow them because they would always lead her where she needed to be or show her what she needed to see.

"I can't." She told them. "I'm sorry but I….Think I should spend today alone. I'm sure you two can do more damage without me." She offered them a smile and they shrugged. "Have it your way then. If you change your mind come find us." They said and jogged off together snickering.

Lyla returned to her room not trusting the library in case the twins decided to go through with their dungbombs.

She sat on her bed and took out the tarot cards she'd received from Fred. She did a few question and answer spreads which involved seven cards. She asked what her visions meant but the answers were vague so she put them away and attempted to meditate like Professor Trelawney had told her to do.

At first it was difficult to clear her mind of all distractions but she did her best not to try to block out those thoughts and simply allowed them to flow and then move on until finally she felt herself slip into a sort of trance and began to see a blurry image. She barely made out a man lying on his back on the shore of a lake. It was dark and there was someone else there. Someone she could barely see. Then came a bunch of dark figures flying around the two. Just as a bright light began to drive away the figures a few girls entered the room laughing and talking, breaking her concentration and snapping her back into reality.

"Of course it was Fred and George. Who else do you know who likes to make Filtch's life difficult?" Said one girl.

"You know they're turning out to be quite the handsome pair." Another girl giggled. "If it weren't for their egos I might be interested but I can't stand overly confident men." Said the third.

"Hm..I don't know. I think if one of them gave me the chance I would go for it." Angelina Johnson smiled sheepishly.

Lyla got up and, figuring she wouldn't find any peace there she left and headed outside. On her way she ran into Ron who looked downright furious and dripping from head to toe. Apparently the twins really had flooded a bathroom or two. Ron just so happened to be unlucky enough to be in one of them. Lyla wondered if maybe it was planned.

For the rest of the holidays Lyla became somewhat of a hermit. She spent almost all of her time studying or practicing on her own or meditating trying to figure out what her visions were trying to tell her. She couldn't deny that there was something going on. It might not have anything to do with her but she couldn't stop herself from trying to figure it all out. What was the point of being a seer if she ignored her visions? She had to start thinking of this as a gift and not an inconvenience.

She felt a bit guilty about her isolation and sometimes wondered if the twins missed hanging out with her. Then she'd spot them chatting with other students or just hanging out and these thoughts would disappear. They looked happy enough which eased her stress on the matter and allowed her to go about her business with less worries.

Near the end of the holiday Dumbledore requested a visit from her. At first she wondered if he was possibly going to ask her about her studies and when she visited his office he greeted her with a kind smile. He did ask her about her studies but that conversation was very brief and he soon asked her if she'd been seeing anything or dreaming of anything recently. He informed her that Professor Trelawney had spoken with him and he would have summoned her sooner but he had other matters to attend to. He was obviously a very busy man.

She explained that her 'visions' had been little more than bits and pieces and that she could decipher nothing from them. He looked a bit disappointed to hear this and went quite for a moment as he scribbled something on a piece of parchment. She thought the conversation was over and that she could leave when he spoke again.

"I hear you've become friendly with the Weasley twins." He said and he winked. "Very high spirited boys." He smiled and she wondered how many times he'd had to deal with them in the past. "I know having friends, at your age, may seem important." He said and rose from his seat. "Building relationships at this time in your life is key, don't misunderstand." He told her and wandered over to an empty portrait which he stared at for a little while, his hands clasped behind his back casually.

"But if you wish to understand what these visions of yours are trying to tell you then you need to focus." His expression was a sad one as he turned to face her again. "I fear becoming too close to them will only distract you." He ran his fingers over his desk lazily as if his mind were somewhere else or there was something else he should be attending to. "It may be hard to hear this but I think it may be best to distance yourself. I don't think it is mere coincidence you were brought to my attention. You're meant for something. Something very important and it's up to you to find out what it is." He told her and as much as she knew it was good advice and that he was only being helpful she couldn't help but feeling it was unfair. She'd already put so much distance between them already in a week hadn't she? Couldn't she just enjoy having friends?

In the end she agreed it would be best. If Dumbledore said it, being the wise man he was, he must have some clue as to what he was talking about, right? He'd been around far longer than she had after all and it would be foolish not to heed his advice.

Classes resumed shortly after that but her tutoring with Hermione was put on hold because she was helping Hagrid put a defense together for Buckbeak. She wished Hermione luck figuring the girl had helped her enough. If she couldn't pass this year with all the girl had done for her then she really didn't deserve to be here.

In History of Magics the first day back to class Lyla realized it was the first time she'd been in the same room as the brothers since they parted ways the day they flooded the bathrooms. When she made to find her seat they waved to her but she sat alone and forced herself to pay attention. To keep her focus she thought of her parents. They would tell her to listen to Dumbledore and that's what she would do. She had to stay on track lest she fall behind again.

During the break, though, the Weasley's caught up with her. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you for over a week." They said and they looked to be in very good moods. Something Lyla didn't want to ruin. "Thought maybe you'd gotten bored with us." Fred teased to which his brother laughed. "Us? Boring? Ha!"

Lyla shrugged, glancing over at Emmet who hopped to George's shoulder and squeaked at him before jumping over to Fred and doing the same. The two petted him in turn before giving her odd looks. "You'd think we were strangers the way you're acting." Fred said and she sighed thinking that maybe she should just tell them what the headmaster said but she really didn't want to hurt their feelings. "I'm sorry. I've just been distracted." She told them and headed for potions. Emmet was reluctant to follow.

She barely made it through potions and by the time lunch rolled around she felt drained. Not too long ago she couldn't wait for classes to resume. Now she regretted not using the holidays to simply lay around and relax.

She sat a ways down from Harry and his friends and overheard them talking about the dementors and how Professor Lupin has agreed to teach Harry how to do the Patronus charm. She'd heard of it and recalled her vision of the man lying on the lake shore.

Lyla spent the rest of the day trying to make a connection between her vision and the conversation. Is that what she'd seen? A patronus charm? Then that meant the dark figures were dementors. Which led her to wonder who it was that made such a powerful patronus. Could it be Lupin?

That night she dreamed of the creature, Buckbeak. She dreamed that she was following Harry, Ron, and Hermione outside where they found a pale, blonde boy with a couple friends spying on Hagrid's hut. She heard the name 'Draco' and the boy was sneering at them, his expression full of confidence.

"Lyla!" She was snapped from her dream by someone calling her name. Someone had her by the shoulders and was shaking her. "Cut it out." She grumbled and opened her eyes. "George? What are you doing in the girl's dormitories?" She asked as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. She rubbed the crust from the corners and looked around. "We're not in the dormitories. We're not even inside the castle." He stared at her, dumbfounded and she looked around realizing he was right. "Awh..Crap." She grumbled.

She stared passed George at the pillar Draco and his friends were watching Hagrid's hut from and walked over to it and ran her hand over the stone.

"What are you doing out here?" George asked. "Sleepwalking." She told him, willing the cold stone to reveal something to her, anything at all that might tell her why she'd come here. Why this exact spot? "What are YOU doing out here?" She retorted.

"Following you. I saw you wander out of the common room. You didn't even notice me." He frowned at her. "Of course I didn't. I was sleeping." She muttered.

"It's like we really are strangers." He said and Lyla rested her head against the stone hoping it would give her some sort of clue as to what she'd seen in her dream. A flash of a vision appeared before her eyes and then it was gone before she could completely register what it was she'd seen. Hermione punching Malfoy in the face. Lyla jerked back and stared at the stone, peculiarly.

"You won't even say what's been bothering you." George was still talking to her. "Nothing's bothering me." She told him and he laughed. "Yeah right. How thick do you think I am? Fred and I don't see you anymore, you don't even ask us to help you with your spells at all, and you always look like you're head is somewhere else." He approached the stone and looked at it curiously as she touched it again, eyebrows drawn together.

"You're doing it right now." He pointed out and she spared him a glance and noticed for the first time that Emmet was perched on his shoulder peering at her like he didn't even know her. She sighed. "It's complicated." She told him.

"Leave it to a girl to use the word 'complicated'." He rolled his eyes. "Maybe if you told someone," He pointed to himself. "It could be less complicated. That's what friends are for right? To help each other?"

She smiled when he referred to her as a friend and it made her feel warm on the chilly night. "You're right." She admitted. She couldn't just keep ignoring the twins. It would just be easier if she told them and got it out of the way. There was no point in keeping it from either of them any longer.

"Uh..I know." George said. "Now spit it out." He demanded and Emmet crawled down him when Lyla sighed and sat on the ground, her back against the stone. He perched himself on her lap and cooed at her and she scratched him beneath the chin. "I've been having visions." She admitted. She had no idea how this was going to go but she might as well tell him. She didn't want the twins hating her. She genuinely liked them.

"What kind of visions?" He asked. Lyla wasn't sure how to answer that. "I don't know. I only get bits and pieces. It's like trying to put together a puzzle with most of the pieces glued upside down to the board."

"Have you talked to Dumbledore about this?" He asked. She nodded. "Of course."

He raised his eyebrows. "And what did he say?"

She rubbed a hand over her hair nervously. "He said that I need to rid myself of distractions to be able to put the pieces together." She left out most of it but George seemed to get the gist of the message.

"Distractions….I see." He suddenly smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well allow me to rid you of this 'distraction' oh, important seer." He curtsied and turned on his heel. Lyla knew her words had wounded him but maybe it was better this way. She really didn't want them to hate her but if they hated her then she wouldn't be 'distracted' as Dumbledore had put it and she really did need to focus on this and figure it out. She felt like she was running out of time.

She returned to her room and took the crystal ball George had given her and peered at the faces of Fred and George who smiled back at her. She cupped it against her chest as she fell asleep, Emmet stretched out on her pillow.

For the next month Fred and George did not speak to her. Occasionally she'd catch one of them looking her way but the second they'd make eye contact they'd look away. It made her feel awful for the way things ended up but her visions were becoming more vivid so she guessed it was working.

Unfortunately her spell casting practice didn't go well on her own. It seemed when she had Fred and George there to give her pointers and support it was simpler. Alone she was easily frustrated and it took three times as long to master a spell than it did with them helping her.

February rolled around and on the night of the fourth Lyla awoke from a very vivid Dream of Sirius Black in one of the boy's rooms and he slashed at someone's bed curtains. She saw the face of Ron Weasley and she woke up screaming bloody murder. The other girls in the room woke up and flooded the room with light. Emmet, startled out of sleep, was running around, manically.

"What's wrong?"

"Is she okay?"

"Did she have a nightmare?"

They asked her a million questions but she couldn't concentrate on them.

She quickly threw her blanket off and ran to the common room still in her pajamas. Boys and girls alike were coming down the stairs to see what all of the commotion was about. She noticed Fred and George, bed headed and rumpled, and then Ron who looked very confused but unharmed and Lyla hurried over to him nearly tripping over her own feet. "Are you okay?" She asked and he nodded, looking rather perplexed. "Yeah. Why?" He asked and she shook her head and quickly left the room to go find Dumbledore. He had to know about this.

Professor McGonagall found her in the hallway before as she blindly made her way down the corridor using her sweaty clammy hands on the wall to find her way, having completely forgotten to bring her wand. "What are you doing out of bed?" The Professor asked sternly and Lyla screamed and nearly jumped out of her skin, her nerves on edge like never before.

Lyla started to explain. "I saw Sirius Black. He's gonna be in the castle again. I don't know when but it's going to happen. He's going to try to kill Ron." She was babbling and Professor McGonagall was staring at her with huge eyes, her mouth agape when Lyla's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she grabbed onto the Professor and blacked out.

When she came to Dumbledore loomed over her, concern etched into his aging face. "Welcome back." He spoke gently and Lyla took a deep breath feeling as if she'd been drowning and had finally broken the surface of the water.

She sat up and glanced around noticing she was in the headmaster's office and it was morning. "Sir, I-" She wanted to tell him of what she'd seen but he cut her off. "I know." He said simply and took a seat. "You've been having fits of visions off and on all night." He told her and her face burned, feeling completely helpless.

"They've been coming more often and they last longer." She said and she could feel tears ready to fall but she forced herself to hold them back. "Did I say anything?" She asked to try to distract herself from the complete lack of control she was feeling.

Dumbledore looked lost in thought, his eyes fixed on the floor. "Oh, you said a great many things. A great many shocking things that I only hope are not true." He said and slowly raised his gaze to meet hers. "But the one thing that I'm most concerned about at this moment is when you kept repeating 'He's coming.'"

"Sirius Black." Lyla said and Dumbledore nodded. "Yes." He shook his head. "If only we could know when." He said. "But security will be tightened none the less." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to her.

Lyla couldn't remember a thing after blacking out. "What else did I say?" She asked. Dumbledore said she'd mentioned a great many shocking things. What were they?

The man sighed. "That is a conversation for another day." He told her leaving Lyla with the feeling that she would be left in the dark for quite some time. "But they're my visions. Don't I have a right to know what they were about?" She asked desperately.

The man looked tired and worn out. "I'm sorry, Ms. Shanks. Someday." He said. "But for now please return to your room. You will be excused from classes today. Rest."

As she headed back to the common room she received a few odd stares. No doubt word had traveled of the strange incidents last night. Lyla kept her head down, the stares leaving her feeling even more isolated than she had before. This time was different though. It was an isolation of her choosing before.

On the stairs she noticed Fred and George coming down the opposite way probably on their way to classes she guessed. She glanced up to find them staring at her and she immediately felt a sinking sensation and she began to feel as if she were losing her mind and not only that but she no longer had anyone to turn to for help.

Again she began to feel tears threatening to fall and she hurried by the twins and, absolutely refusing to cry, hurried through the common room and up to her room where she stayed for the rest of the day, Emmet her only company. She curled up beneath her covers before any of the other girls came up to go to bed.

...

**Okay! So how was it? I hope you liked it. Well we only have a couple more chapters to go before this fic is over and I'll be moving onto the next book. I'm really really looking forward to typing all over THAT out haha. **

** In the next chapter we'll find that forgiveness takes time. That's the only hint I'm giving you XD**

** Thank you for reading! See ya next time! **


	6. Rubbish! Chapter six: Forgiveness

**Rubbish! Chapter six:** Forgiveness.

**Summary**: Hey everyone! In this chapter Lyla gives the twins a warning, she's asked if she can force herself to have a vision, and a trip to Hogsmeade mends a few wounds. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter nor its characters.

...

The next morning, though she really didn't want to, she dragged herself out of bed and down to breakfast. Emmet was happy to be out and about instead of cooped up in the room with her but she couldn't blame him. The last thing she wanted to do was have to stay hidden in fear of odd looks or cruel words. Unfortunately it seemed that was exactly what she was going to have to deal with.

She ate quickly, her stomach growling viciously from having not eaten anything the day before, and while she did she could heard a couple of girls talking about her and they weren't even being quiet about it. 'Great.' She thought to herself as she shoveled eggs into her mouth trying to act like she couldn't hear them.

"I think she's completely mental." One said. She didn't recognize the girls at all but she thought that maybe they were fourth years. The other girl scoffed at her friend. "I think she just wants attention. You know how American girls are. Besides, Professor McGonagall said that true Seers are extremely rare." She said matter-of-factly.

Lyla had half a mind to just leave without finishing her food but what would be the point in going hungry because of a couple girls doing what a lot of girls their age did? They were just gossiping. Soon everyone would forget about all of this. Right?

The two continued to talk until two very familiar voices interrupted them. "You'd think the two of you would have something better to than talk bad about someone who's never done anything to you." One said. The other gave an approving 'Mmmmhmmm.' And added "They really shouldn't talk bad about others. I've heard stories about them that would me your toes curl, George."

Suddenly the girls rose from their seats and left the dining hall. Lyla watched them go feeling extremely happy that the twins had stuck up for her even if they didn't like her.

When Lyla dared to glance up she caught Hermione giving her a sympathetic look from a few seats down on the other side of the table.

Getting the sudden urge to be helpful in some way Lyla disobeyed Dumbledore's order not to tell anyone of her vision and quickly took out a piece of parchment from her bag, tore off a small piece, and scribbled a note as fast as she could.

_Look after Ron tonight_.

She didn't know how she knew something was going to happen tonight she just had a gut feeling and she was going to listen to it. Even if she ended up being wrong at least she could be comforted by the fact that she tried to be of some use.

Lyla then waited for the twins to get up to head to class and she quickly followed and placed the note in Fred's hand before passing them and hurrying off to class, Emmet running after her.

During class they kept looking over at her but she kept her head down pretending nothing happened.

The quidditch match Gryffindor vs. RavenClaw was something Lyla had wanted to attend. She'd never really gotten to watch decent game of Quidditch and it was beginning to look like she never would either.

Lyla did not go, really not wanting to show her face. Instead she stayed in the common room studying which seemed to be all she ever did anymore these days. Sitting with her was Hermione Granger who was sunk so deep in her book it would take a serious commotion to snap her out of it and a serious commotion is exactly what it took.

Suddenly the common room flooded with cheering students. They were having a party to celebrate Gryffindor's victory. Fred and George were throwing out sweets and were in extremely high spirits. As Lyla gazed around Angelina Johnson, she noticed, was giving Fred Googly eyes and she vaguely remembered her saying something about if she got a chance with one of the twins she'd definitely take it. It looked like she could have that chance too with the way Fred was smiling back at her.

Emmet hopped up in her lap to avoid being stepped on and grunted at a few students in offense ad she petted him and told him to calm down. The last thing she needed right now was for Emmet to revert back to being his old aggressive self and bite someone. Then she'd be the 'mental chick with the ferocious ferret'.

She noticed George looking her way and got up immediately, congratulated Harry on the victory, and quickly moved to retreat to her room just as Ron and Hermione began arguing over whether her cat ate Ron's rat.

Just as she was about to ascend the stairs she felt someone slip something into her hand from behind. Glancing over her shoulder she saw George returning to the crowd and went to her room.

Once inside she lit a lantern and read the note. It read:

_I need to talk to you. Meet me in the common room after the party._

She reread the hastily scribbled note and nibbled on her lip wondering if she should talk with George. She had a feeling something big was going to happen tonight so maybe if she was in the common room she could stop it somehow?

The noises from the party went on for almost an hour and a half. When the noise finally died down and she heard people returning to their rooms and the girls had gone to bed Lyla slipped out of the room and descended the steps only to run smack dab into George on the stairs.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at him.

"You were taking too long. Figured I'd come up and see what the hold up was."

"Are you out of your mind?! What if someone saw you?"

"I'd say I was sleepwalking?" He was trying to be funny.

"What did you need to talk about?" She asked.

"Well I was thinking and I realized that you were right..Well..That Dumbledore was right. We were sort of distracting you. I was mad for a bit because I thought maybe you were just trying to blow us off because you thought you were too good to hang out with us but I realized this morning that wasn't the case. Or else you wouldn't have given Fred that note."

She stared at him, happy that he didn't hate her but a little confused. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

He shook his head and the sound of someone entering the common room silenced them both and George pulled her up the stairs deeper into the shadows in case it was a teacher coming to see if the students had gone to bed.

From being as far up as they were they couldn't see anything but the curve of the stairs and the light from the fireplace on the steps flickering dimly.

"I wanted to know why you asked us to look after Ron tonight." He whispered far too close to her ear and she rubbed at it and stepped away from him.

"I…" She didn't want to sound crazy but she felt the need to tell him because it was his own brother after all.

Suddenly a scream could be heard coming from one of the boy's rooms. "That's why." Lyla's eyes went wide and as they descended the stairs the sound of the door to the common room slamming closed could be heard. They reached the bottom of the stairs as students began to file out asking what had happened.

Lyla and George stared as Ron and Harry came down and Harry was asking Ron if he was sure it wasn't just a dream. Then Fred appeared and looked completely at a loss but grinning all the same as usual. "Excellent. Are we carrying on then?" Did he really think they were continuing the party?

Lyla and George exchanged looks as Percy entered and began ordering everyone back into their beds. Ron was hysterically screaming how Sirius Black had been hovering over him with a knife which woke him up.

All the noise attracted Professor McGonagall who took the story from Ron and then asked the 'Noble' Sir Cadogan, they're replacement portrait. He admitted to letting someone in who had all the passwords that week. It truly had been annoying trying to keep up with all the passwords. Apparently she wasn't only one who thought so because someone had felt it necessary to write them all down on a piece of paper. When the students were questioned about it. Neville Longbottom admitted to being the one who'd left his list lying around.

No one returned to bed that night. Lyla felt nauseous knowing that her vision had come true. She sat in front of the fireplace staring at the flickering flames trying to make sense of everything. George was talking to Ron and Fred took a seat next to Lyla looking as if he were at a loss for words.

"You saw this happen last night didn't you?" He asked. Lyla nodded. The castle was being searched again but Lyla already knew there would be no sign of Sirius Black. "Why didn't you tell us then?"

"I didn't want to cause a panic in case I was wrong." She said feeling awful. "But I warned you this morning. I told you to keep an eye on him." She said.

Fred stared at her for a moment and then stood and left her sitting alone again.

At dawn Professor McGonagall returned to confirm what Lyla already knew. Sirius Black had escaped.

For the next week Lyla only left her room for classes. Friday night she was once again summoned to speak with Dumbledore but since she'd had no visions since the last one he dismissed her fairly quickly before she could try to ask him about what she'd been saying the last time he'd seen her.

As she wandered down the corridor with a brain full of questions and no answers on her way back to the common room she noticed the twins waiting at the end, arms crossed and eyes drilling into her. She didn't know their intentions so she passed by them quickly. They followed, one on each side. "We've decided that we forgive you." They said in unison.

"For telling you the truth? Or not being specific enough when I warned you about keeping an eye on your brother?" She asked feeling a bit bitter. She'd gone from having friends to not having friends and then not knowing where she stood with anyone. If someone could drop her a clue it would be nice.

"Both." They said and stepped in front of her.

"It's not your fault you're a seer. You were born that way and you were kind enough to warn us in the first place." They said. "Way I see it." Fred went on. "We owe you an apology for being such thickheads." George finished.

"Ummm…" Okay, she hadn't expected any of that. "Apology accepted?" She looked between the two and their faces broke into identical smiles. "Good." They said. "Now that that's out of the way." Fred stepped beside her and hooked his elbow with hers. "We're gonna help you figure out what these visions of yours mean." George took her other side and did the same as his brother and began practically pulling her towards the common room.

Hermione was sitting alone when they entered and the twins planted Lyla in front of her. "Uhhh…" Lyla was confused as to what was going on.

Hermione handed her parchment and a quill and ink. "I want you to write down every vision you've had since you got here." She said and Lyla took the items and sat down. "Okay.." She looked from the twins to Hermione and began jotting everything down.

After she was finished she handed the list over to Hermione who quickly began to devour the words with her eyes. Emmet, who'd taken up residence on Fred's shoulder looked all too pleased to be in his situation. If she didn't know better Lyla would think the ferret missed them.

"Where are Harry and Ron? Don't you think they should be here?" She asked curiously. Hermione spared her a glance only for a moment. "We're not exactly on the best of terms right now." She explained and Lyla frowned. "I see."

"None of this makes any sense." Hermione said after finishing the list. "Is that really all of them?" She asked and lyla nodded.

Fred and George start offering ridiculous theories that Hermione shot down one by one. Eventually they decide to see if she could have another one.

"Can you force yourself to have one?" Hermione asked. "Uh..Not really. Once I meditated like Trelawney told me to and I had a short one but Angelina Johnson and some of her friends came into the room going on about these two.." She jabbed her thumbs over her shoulders where the twins were standing "and they broke my concentration."

"Oh yeah? What were they saying?" They asked and Lyla rolled her eyes and cleared her throat and did her best to imitate Angelina. "Oh, I don't know. If one of those two gave me a chance I'd go for it." She rolled her eyes again and the two exchanged looks and waggled their eyebrows. "What else?" They asked.

Hermione interrupted. "This is not the time for that." She shot at the boys and Lyla was grateful for it.

"Do you think you can do it again?" She asked Lyla who shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't been able to since then but then again my mind has been all over the place recently." She mumbled and turned her gaze to the fire.

"I have an idea." George said and Lyla looked over her shoulder at him. "I think I know where you're going with this Georgie." Fred grinned.

"Maybe if we take your mind off of everything and show you a good time you'll be able to meditate with a clear mind. With all the studying and practicing you've been doing some fun would do you good." George said and Lyla arched an eyebrow.

"How do you know I've been practicing?" She asked. The two looked to one another. "Uh..I just assumed." George said but he really wasn't being very convincing. "You're creepy." Lyla grumbled.

"It's not creepy. It's caring." Fred said.

The next day Lyla rose from bed and stared at the school grounds through the window. She felt so much better today than she had in a long time. Just the thought of things being back to normal, or as normal as things could be, between she and the twins gave her some hope that maybe she really could make some potentially lifelong friends. She'd thought she'd made one of those at Salem's. She remembered Connor Langsley fondly.

They'd met in her first year and at first they didn't get along very well. Somehow, though, they became the best of friends towards the end of the year. He was the one she'd thought would remain her friend even after she left Salem's but since she hadn't heard a single word from him since she left she assumed he'd forgotten all about her.

Forgetting about her past, Lyla dressed and sluggishly made her way downstairs. Emmet didn't look too happy at the prospect of being left behind again but she didn't want him running all over Hogsmeade and possibly getting lost. He was clever but he could also be very dumb and she didn't need him getting into any trouble either.

During this trip to Hogsmeade of course the twins wanted to go to Zonko's and the place was extremely packed with students and Lyla could have sworn someone stepped on her foot but when she turned to look there was no one there but Ron Weasley and he seemed to be talking to himself. Poor boy must have suffered more of a shock on that night than she'd thought.

While the two busied themselves at the joke shop Lyla told them she'd meet up with them later. She had a secret agenda while there and had some business to attend to. When they met up again later she had a bunch of packages that she ended up making the boys carry around and when they didn't question her about it Lyla feared they knew what she was up to.

For a quick sit down Fred and George asked her if she'd ever had butterbeer which she told them no so they took her to the three broomsticks.

"Ya know for a while there I really didn't think we'd ever talk to you again." Fred said as Lyla delighted in the drink. She had thought the same thing with the way they'd all been acting. Her eyes rested on the packages they'd set beside the table.

"Right? Thought you'd go your own way and forget all about us." He seemed sad at the thought but when he noticed her looking at him he quickly added ."Which would have meant such a waste of money on that gift I got you."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. Because once you stop being friends with someone everything they ever gave you becomes trash." She grumbled sarcastically. Even though they hadn't been speaking she'd still used their gifts nearly every day and treasured them.

George's eyes went wide. "No. I didn't mean that.."He trailed off and looked like he was searching for words only to give up. "I think what he meant to say was if we stopped being friends he would have to be reminded every time he looked down at his wrist and you would be reminded every time you looked at your nightstand."

Of course he'd know where her crystal ball sat. He had been in her room to place her gift on her bed. Then she thought about what he'd said and she looked at George's wrist and sure enough he was wearing the bracelet she'd given him. Fred grinned when he caught her line of sight. "He hasn't taken it off since you gave it to him. I think he might bathe with it on too…If he ever bathed." He joked and George tugged on the hat he was wearing, the one she'd given him. "Oh yeah? It's not even cold out anymore and yet you still wear this." He poked fun at his brother and Lyla felt extremely at ease in the cozy environment as the two bickered. It was comforting.

Afterwards they then decided to return to the castle and Lyla helped them carry some of the stuff she'd bought. They laughed and joked along the way trying to guess what she'd purchased and by the time they reached the common room it felt like their time away from each other had never happened and Lyla felt determined to have a vision.

She left the two who wished her luck and she quickly went to her room and began to meditate. It was even harder to clear her mind this time. With all the excitement of the day, of what was to come, and the fun she'd had with the twins she had to work even harder to wait for everything to clear away.

After what felt like half an hour she began to fade out into the same sort of trance as the last time and she prayed no one would come in and interrupt her.

She saw Hermione holding a letter. She was crying. Then she was hugging Ron. Then those images faded away and she saw Hermione and Harry standing in the middle of the infirmary holding something between them. Ron was in one of the beds. His leg was injured. She saw a man, the man she'd seen in her crystal ball with the mask. He was holding the axe she'd seen. He was an executioner.

She suddenly snapped out of it and quickly ran down the stairs to see the twins, Hermione, Ron, and Harry all sitting around looking somber. "I did it!" She exclaimed and they all looked to her and it was then that Lyla noticed the letter in Hermione's hands. "Oh…"

Hermione asked her what she saw and Lyla told her. The fact that her most of what she'd seen hadn't been futuristic at all left her wondering why she'd seen something that had while she was trying to meditate.

The news of Buckbeak's execution was saddening and definitely put a damper on everyone's mood.

"Whole lot of good my visions do.." Lyla grumbled afterwards hearing the news. Hermione shook her head, her eyes were red and swollen from crying. "No. There was more to your vision than you think." She'd been writing down her visions as she'd told it. "We just need to figure out the connection."She said and then took the parchment and left. Ron and Harry followed.

Lyla took a seat next to Fred and George, the mood heavy. Even Emmet must have been picking up on the fact that something was wrong because he was laying on his stomach with his head on her lap, his usually energetic mood replaced by a more lazy and unmotivated one.

"Is there anything we can do?" She asked more to herself than the twins but they shook their heads anyways. "No." They said in unison.

She sighed and stood. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed." She told them. They nodded and told her goodnight and she retreated to her room.

The Whomping Willow? Why the Whomping Willow? Of all the things she could have dreamed of why that? Again, she was following Harry and his friends and they were running. They were chasing after Ron. She could barely keep up with them. She tried to run faster as their figures began to disappear into the darkness.

"OOF!" All the air whooshed from her lungs and she felt like she'd been tackled. She sat up, fully awake only to find that she had, indeed, been tackled.

Fred quickly scrambled to his feet and glared at her. "What the hell do you think you were doing?!" He shouted at her. She stared at him, confused. George was right behind him. "What?" She asked and looks around her. Once again she found herself outside. Lyla was astonished that she hadn't been caught other than the first night this happened. Either she had the best luck in the world or the worst. "Again?" She whispered to herself, getting fed up with this sleepwalking business.

"You nearly walked right into the Whomping Willow!" Fred exclaimed, eyes wild. Lyla looked through the darkness and sure enough the willow loomed not too far away silently daring her to come closer.

"Who's bright idea was it to follow me this time?" She asked and Fred pointed to George. "He did. He said he's seen you sleepwalk out of the castle before and figured we should follow you to make sure you didn't get into trouble. Lucky we did!"

Lyla nodded to George . "Thanks."

The two helped her to her feet. "What were you dreaming of this time?" George asked. She tried to remember, not wanting the memory to slip away.

"I saw Ron, Hermione, and Harry…Then I saw the Whomping willow. Ron was being dragged towards it and into a hole at the base by something…A dog and then..I don't know." She stared at the mysterious tree in wonder. She could not, for the life of her, figure out the connection between all of the things she'd been seeing.

The twins urged her to come back with them and she reluctantly agreed, tossing glances over her shoulder at the enormous tree almost the whole way.

...

**Okay so with only one chapter to go I'm getting super excited to write the next story in the series. :)**

**Well let me know what you think so far. I've had a blast writing this out but I would be lying if I said I didn't want to get the next chapter out of the way as quick as possible so I can get to the next story. I've got some big plans. **

**Anyways, Thank you for reading! See ya next time!**


	7. Rubbish! Chapter seven: The Beginning

**Rubbish! chapter seven**: The Beginning.

**Summary**: Welcome to the last chapter of Rubbish! I'm a little ad that this is the ending but there's much more to come! In this chapter Lyla celebrates the twins birthday, her visions finally make sense, and everyone starts break! Enjoy!

**Authors note:** There's a very obvious reference to Pirates of the Caribbean in this chapter XD

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter not the characters.

...

Between classes, getting back into practicing with the twins, and meeting up with Hermione to figure out her visions plus all of her homework April came before Lyla knew it and if it hadn't been for Ron telling her when the twin's birthday was she probably would have been received by two very cross brothers on April first.

She'd been plotting for some time now and decided to act like she had no idea it was their birthday nor would she act as if she cared.

The whole day she went about her business as if nothing were any different. The twins hinted to her that morning that something was special about the day but she played dumb and said "Its April fool's day?" For which she'd received the worst looks from the brothers.

By the end of the day the two kept throwing her dirty looks and she got a feeling that if she didn't cut the charade out soon she might end up with a few cruel pranks thrown her way and as she passed them in the common room to head up to her room they stopped her. "Don't you know what today is?" They asked basically asking her the same thing they had this morning.

"Of course. Happy Birthday" She tried to sound as uninterested as possible. Of course she would know what day it was. People were wishing them happy birthday all over the school and she'd been present for quite a few.

Lyla brushed by two dejected looking twins. "That's all the excitement you can manage?" They asked and as soon as she got to her room she began pulling out the gifts that had been hidden there since she got them on their last visit to Hogsmeade and then she marched down the stairs with the pile and deposited it onto the floor. "April fools." She grinned and split the pile into two.

Their grins were enormous and they began to unwrap their presents. Lyla had always considered birthdays to be very special and something to always be celebrated no matter the circumstances. She'd even given Ron another box full of sweets on his birthday the month before. She hadn't known what to get him at first but since he enjoyed her Christmas gift to him she figured he wouldn't mind being loaded up on sweets again.

"I thought you didn't do practical jokes." Fred mocked her and she shrugged. "I made an exception." She said as she watched them produce their gifts one by one.

For Fred she got a pair of socks that would scream if they went without being washed for too long, a book of practical jokes, a quill that would stab your hand if you misspelled a word, and lastly since she'd gotten George a bracelet for Christmas she'd decided that Fred should have one of his own. She'd chosen one with a braided leather band with a small silver piece that linked it together with his name on it. It cost a little extra for the name but she really liked the idea. She didn't see the brothers as the type to wear jewelry but a bracelet could probably be acceptable.

For George she'd purchased Volume two of the the book of practical jokes since she figured they'd be using them together anyways, a large bottle of 'Bottled Skunk', a pair of nice gloves, and then she'd bought a very curious little item. At first she hadn't known what she was looking at because it looked so very ordinary. It was the size of a girl's makeup compact and no thicker than a finger. It was a compass that the seller said would point the owner in the direction of whatever they wanted the most at the moment.

The two stared at her and rose to their feet simultaneously to thank her but she cut them off and tossed them both one more package each. She'd been saving the best for last and they caught them. Inside were beater's clubs with 'Bloody good beater' engraved into the wood. It had left her broke but as she took in the looks on their faces she decided it was definitely worth it. Besides, her parents had still sent her money every month and there was nothing she wanted so why not spend it on the people who'd shown her such kindness?

For a moment the brothers were speechless as they gawked at her. "This must have cost a fortune!" They exclaimed. She shook her head. "Not a fortune but it was a pretty penny and it left me broke. I've had these since our trip to Hogsmeade." She told them and they both grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Lyla." They said.

She relished the hug and it felt good. Those weren't just their birthday presents. They were also 'I'm sorry for being a jackass' presents.

They spent the rest of the evening in the common room just talking about this and that and for a little while Fred and George pretended they were at the Quidditch cup game and began horsing around with their clubs causing quite the commotion until they finally settled down a little.

"You're going to the game right?" They asked in regards to the match versus Slytherin.

Lyla shrugged. "I don't know. I've never really been to a Quidditch match." She admitted. "You've got to go then!" Fred exclaimed. She chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Maybe." She said. She didn't want to promise them she'd go and then change her mind at the last second.

"Oh, c'mon! It's the last game of the year and you just gave us these new clubs. You have to at least come to the game and watch us beat the snot out of Slytherin." George swung his club as if he were bludgeoning someone with it.

Fred grinned. "It's your duty as a mighty Gryffindor!" He stood, placed his hands on his hips, and puffed his chest out which Lyla guessed was him trying to resemble a mighty lion. She laughed. "But I'm not a 'mighty Gryffindor'." She mimicked his actions and then quickly deflated. "I'm a little fox from Fairfield." She said.

The two shook their heads. "No." Fred smiled. "Fairfield is who you were." He said and George gave her a grin. "But Gryffindor is what you are."

How in the hell could she refuse to go to the match after that?

So she went and the match was excellent. She was on the edge of her seat the entire time. She never would have thought that she'd enjoy the sport as much as she did and by the end of the game she was sure she would be hoarse from the amount of screaming she did. Initially she'd only planned to go to root for Fred and George but she quickly got sucked into the rest of the game and became a howling idiot and when they won she jumped up and down, pumping her fist in the air.

Down on the field she watched as the team exchanged congratulations and she was about to leave when she noticed Angelina Johnson throw her arms around George. She knew it was only out of excitement for winning but she just couldn't help remembering what she'd said about being interested in the twins.

Feeling like an idiot for thinking about that Lyla shook the feeling off and simply enjoyed the celebration.

She returned to the common room before anyone else with the intention of changing into something more comfortable than her robes when she spotted movement, a little figure raced away from her leaving her thinking 'That looked like…' She shook her head. "No. It couldn't be." She said out loud thinking she'd seen a familiar rat but when she got a bit closer to investigate the common room suddenly flooded with students and she was hauled away by Fred and George.

"Did you see that flawless victory?" They asked and she laughed. "I don't know about flawless but I saw the victory." She said and glanced to the corner she thought she'd seen Ron's rat but there was nothing there.

"You really went?" George asked and she nodded. "If course I did. I told you I'd go and I did. Congratulations." She patted them both on the back and they hugged her with enthusiasm. "Where's Harry?" She asked and looked around the room so she could congratulate him as well but instead locked eyes with Angelina Johnson who was looking her way.

Lyla quickly dropped her arms from the twins and stepped back not wanting the girl to think she was competition.

The two followed her line of sight and waved to Angelina. Lyla slipped away up into her room while they were distracted.

The next few weeks passed without incident aside from the O.W.L exams which somehow Lyla hadn't felt so stressed about recently. In fact she felt downright confident….Mostly. Of course then Fred and George teased her after the exams saying she probably failed everything because she'd over studied.

With exams over and an opportunity for rest and relaxation presenting itself Lyla took it happily and hung out with the twins and Emmet in the common room with a few other students. As they talked Lyla admitted she was kind of waiting for Hermione to come around so she could thank her again for all of her help. Without her there was no way she would have been prepared for her exams.

"Actually now that you mention it.." Fred said. "I haven't seen Ron or Harry either." He shrugged. "Who knows that those three are up to.." George didn't seem too interested in their whereabouts but Lyla was getting that nagging sensation. She told herself it was nothing for once and ignored it.

"Soon we'll be going back home." Lyla said. The twins nodded. "Finally. I need some down time." Fred said. "All we have is downtime." George joked back.

"So you'll be going back to America?" Fred asked Lyla. She nodded and stared into the flames, the nagging sensation getting stronger. "You'll write us won't you?" George asked and again she nodded. "I'd tell you to practice your spells over break but students aren't allowed to use magic outside of school." Fred poked fun at her.

"Hey maybe we can convince mum to let her come for a visit. She always lets Harry visit when he wants." George said. Fred shrugged. "Maybe. Then again Harry's not a girl." He winked at his brother. "No but Hermione is and she's always welcome as well." George shot back.

"You're right. We can try. Do you think your parents would let you visit?" Fred asked Lyla and she shrugged, a very familiar feeling setting in. She had no clue what her parents would think of that. She could always ask. She didn't want to spend her whole break alone anyways and none of her previous friends from Salem's had even bothered to write her so she figured they'd forgotten all about her. "Maybe.." She was going to say something else but she was cut off by a sudden rush. She stood up thinking she might throw up only to topple over and grab at the carpet as images flooded her head.

Ron finding Scabbers in Hagrid's hut, them leaving and Scabbers biting Ron and running off, Ron being dragged into the hole at the base of the Whomping Willow, Harry and Hermione following, bits and pieces of the events at the shrieking shack with Snape, Sirius Black, and Lupin. The group leaving to come back to the castle to prove Black's innocence, Lupin turning into a werewolf, Peter escaping, Harry running after Sirius who'd been injured, and then the scene at the lake she'd seen before.

"Lyla! Lyla!" She stirred to someone calling her name and the twin's faces loomed over her. She was pulled up into a seated position and Fred leaned her against his chest as George asked her if she was alright. She opened her mouth to answer but was suddenly thrown back into the fray. The scenes played out in fast forward this time with different results. Buckbeak was saved and so was Sirius Black.

Lyla gasped as she jerked back into reality, her head feeling as if it were splitting in half and jumped to her feet. She stumbled but managed to stay upright and bounded from the common room with the twins running after her. "She's gone mental!" Fred laughed. "She's gonna get caught for sure…Wait…WE'RE gonna get caught." But they seemed to be enjoying the thrill as Lyla ran as fast as she could to the infirmary but right before she got there she heard arguing so she hung back and hid. Fred and George followed suit and once the others were gone she darted for the door. It was locked so she knocked and Madame Pomphrey opened the door looking quite exasperated.

"Oh for heaven's sake what's this all about?" She asked. "Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasely. They're here aren't they?" To which the woman nodded. Fred and George piped up. "We heard our brother was hurt and we came to see him." They lied.

"Oh absolutely not. No visitors. Go back to your rooms you can visit him in the morning."

"But we need to see him. Please only for a minute." They begged in unison and she threw her hands in the air. "Fine but you have ten minutes!" She pointed a finger at them and when they all nodded they flooded into the room.

"I knew it. I knew I wasn't crazy." Lyla gasped and darted to Harry's bedside while Fred and George joined Ron to keep up appearances. Of course all they did was tease him about his leg and poke at it.

"What are you going on about?" Harry asked, his gaze flickering to Hermione. Lyla rolled her eyes. "I saw it. I saw everything. You saved them. That's what my visions have been about all year!" She whispered excitedly.

Hermione laughed from her bed. "I figured that out at the Whomping willow." She beamed brightly.

"I didn't figure it out until I was a twitching mess on the floor." Lyla poked fun at herself. "I just had to come here and see if it was true." She was beside herself. Harry laughed at her and patted her shoulder. "So I guess you really are a seer." He said and Lyla scrambled away from the bed. "Oh my god. I need to talk to Dumbledore." She ran her hand over her hair a few times, a bundle of nerves.

Fred and George came to stand beside her. "I think someone needs sleep." Fred chuckled at her manic behavior. "You're acting a little mental." George patted her head and they tugged on her arms and she quickly nodded. "Right. It can wait until morning." She smiled to Harry and then Hermione and waved and to Ron she told him she hoped his leg would be better soon.

As soon as they returned to the common room the twins sent her off to bed. Poor little Emmet didn't know what to think.

The next morning the first thing she did was visit Dumbledore who was surprised to see her up and about so early after exams. He welcomed her into his office and motioned for her to take a seat if she cared. Lyla refused, her nerves still firing off like crazy making her a bit twitchy.

"I could barely sleep last night." She told him and made sure to tell him every bit of detail about the night before and he patiently listened to it all, hands clasped in front of him. Lyla, on the other hand, paced as she spoke.

When she finished she whirled, a puzzled expression on her face. "You said I was meant for something important, Sir but I didn't do anything. I just saw things happening. I couldn't affect them in any way." She said.

The man smiled. "I did say you were meant for something important. I did not necessarily mean in this instance." His eyes twinkled at her and he winked with a soft smile. "Then when?" Lyla asked, not liking the fact that she was left out of the loop. Dumbledore seemed to know more about her than she even did.

He approached and laid a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "All will become clear to you with time, Ms. Shanks." He winked and Lyla recalled Trelawney saying the same thing to her. Coincidence? She thought not.

"Now I must ask that you do not discuss the happenings that you saw with anyone. Tell your parents very little." He said and Lyla nodded. She wasn't going to question the man because she knew her parents wouldn't allow her to come back to Hogwarts if they knew what had taken place with Sirius Black and Harry potter. They would think the school dangerous and Lyla wanted to return the next year so she agreed.

Dumbledore was happy with her nod and patted her shoulder before moving away from her. "We will definitely be seeing you back at Hogwarts next year." He said. "You're a very bright young woman and you have a very promising future as a Seer. We would be proud to have you back." He said and Lyla felt happiness and pride swell in her chest.

"But Sir…" She looked down at her feet. " I don't want to make a career out of being a Seer." She admitted. "I want to be a Potions master." She told him and his face broke into an even bigger smile. "And you would be a brilliant one." He told her which were the greatest words of encouragement she'd ever heard. Her parents didn't want her to follow potions as a career. They wanted her in the Ministry of Magic someday. Knowing that at least one older person supported her decision was a wonderful feeling.

"Thank you, Sir." She said and he dismissed her so she could go catch up with the twins for their last Hogsmeade visit.

After the two visited Zonko's for the last time they stopped at the three broomsticks where it was packed with students. The twins chatted with a few of them while Lyla sat down at a table and waited for them to join her.

Many students wished Fred and George a good summer and she noticed Angelina Johnson slip a piece of paper into Fred's hand which he slipped into his pocket. No doubt it was her address because Lyla overheard her telling him to write to her.

The twins joined her shortly after that and sat opposite her.

"Only a week left until we're home free." Fred looked excited to be rid of school. "And telling our Mum and dad that we've made a friend who just happens to be a tried and true seer I think our chances of getting permission for you to visit is definitely good. Plus the Quidditch world cup is happening over the break. You've got to see it! Dad usually gets tickets from work!" George grinned.

" I'm sure my parents will be absolutely horrified that I want to visit two boys during break." She said already imagining their faces when she asked. They'd assume the worst, naturally. But she would try because she already knew she'd miss the two. She'd miss the entire experience of this year for that matter. The good and the bad.

"What's that supposed to mean?" They asked in unison. "Well, they don't know you or your parents and….You're boys sooo they're probably gonna assume…Some…Stuff.." She could feel her face heating up just at the very thought of her parents giving her 'the talk'. She didn't know if visiting the twins would be worth that level of embarrassment.

They both looked somewhat confused for a moment before they reached the realization at the same time. "ooooooooh." They nodded and suddenly broke out into laughter.

They spent the rest of the week together. Nearly every moment that they weren't sleeping they were spending time alone or with Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They helped her practice all of the spells she'd learned that year joking with her telling her they didn't want her to get rusty before even getting on the train.

The day before they would be leaving they received their O.W.L results. The twins had managed a handful of O. each and when they asked Lyla how she'd done she screamed with joy and jumped up and down and hugging them while telling them her marks. She'd done decent which was far more than she could have hoped for. She'd honestly been having nightmares that she'd completely failed. They rolled their eyes at how giddy she was over average marks but admitted they were proud of her.

The next day the train ride back to London seemed to take forever but that wouldn't be the end of the journey. Her parents would be waiting at the station to pick her up and then they would be on their way back to America.

When they arrived at the platform Fred and George spotted their mother and father waiting for them. Lyla was looking for her parents trying to spot them in the crowd but the twins grabbed her by the elbows and steered her towards their mother.

"Mum we'd like you to meet made a friend" They said in unison and Lyla shied not knowing what to make of all this. The woman smiled, huge. "Nice to meet you dear, I'm Molly Weasely and this is my husband, Arthur." She wrapped the girl in a hug which left Lyla speechless. She was so friendly! "She looks like a nice girl! What is she doing hanging around with the two of you?" She rounded on her sons.

"Lyla honey!" She heard her mother's voice behind her and looked to see her mom and dad making their way through the crowd. "Mom! Dad!" She threw her arms around them both and hugged them tightly. She had missed them dearly. She stepped away to return the favor of introducing the twins to her parents but they were right there already, hands extended.

"Fred and George Weasely." They announced at once and Lyla's mother and father smiled politely and shook their hands. "We're friends of Lyla's and this is our mother, Molly, and our father, Arthur." They stepped aside and, though their parents seemed preoccupied looking for their other children, they were glad to shake hands and meet Lyla's parents.

While their parents chatted ( it seemed that Arthur had heard of Lyla's father before and was telling him he must visit the ministry sometime.) Fred and George pulled her to the side. "Phase one of the plan went rather well." They said and Lyla, confused, asked "What plan?" The two shook their heads. "You'll see over break." They said and Lyla grew suspicious of them.

"You'd better write us." They said and she nodded. "I will. I promise." She said, her eyes flitting to her parents who seemed absolutely delighted by the Weasley parents.

Fred scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Our address." He said and she rolled her eyes as she took it. "And don't forget to ask your parents to visit." They said and then grabbed her in a tight hug. "Guys..C'mon..You're embarrassing me!" She patted them on the backs and tried to remove herself from the hug but to no avail. She didn't need her parents seeing this random display of affection. They would already be suspicious enough of these two if she asked to visit them during break.

"Awh! That's adorable! Boys let go of that poor girl!" Molly Weasley barked at her sons who released her. Her parents laughed at the display and Lyla spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione a little ways down on the platform. She absolutely had to say goodbye to them. She wouldn't feel right if she didn't so she said goodbye to each one of them in turn. Ron groaned when she said goodbye to him. "Without you around they're gonna torture me non-stop." He sighed and left to join his family.

Finally she and her parents left the station after waving goodbye one last time to the weasley family. She happened to see Harry getting into the car with his family and she waved at him again wishing him a fun break.

As she got into the car with her parents her father asked her. "Who is that boy, Lyla?" To which she grinned. "Him? That's Harry Potter." She told him and his jaw dropped. "Is it really?" His jaw snapped closed and he started the car. "Huh…"he said. "My daughter knows a celebrity.."

Lyla didn't know what her break was going to be like as she watched the scenery pass by on their way to the airport. (Her parents were fond of muggle transportation) but she knew for a fact she would make the best of it and with any hope she'd be able to visit the Weasley twins. Of course she wouldn't be asking about that any time soon.

She smiled to herself as her father asked her how her year had been and if she liked it more than Salem's. "Very good. It's nothing like Salem's." She told him. "I learned so much about myself." She said and he spared her a glance in the rear-view mirror. "Oh? Like what?" He asked curiously and, Grinning from ear to ear Lyla pulled her small crystal ball out of her pocket and Emmet peered down from her shoulder at it.

She stared down at the faces of Fred and George looking back at her. " I'm a Gryffindor." She said simply.

...

**Well, folks! That's all there is for this story. I will be posting the new one very soon. (Either late tonight or tomorrow afternoon so keep your eyes peeled for that) It has been great fun writing this story and though it is short there is a reason behind it. It was meant to be a set-up for the next one which will be far more in-depth and way longer. This one was more to develop a quick back story so you could get a feel for Lyla and her relationship with the twins. **

**I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Thank you all SOOOO much for reading! See ya soon! **


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